The Birthday Boy

Well - it's official. According to the books, we no longer have a baby, as Jack turned one yesterday as is now considered a toddler. He can't quite toddle (walk) yet, but he's gotten very good at crawling, pulling himself up on furniture, walking along the couch and coffee table, and terrorizing the cat.


We had a small birthday party for Jack on Saturday. We were happy that Grandpa Roy was able to make it up to "represent" our Wisconsin family and we missed our other family members, particularly those overseas, but we know they were all with us in spirit and we were able to celebrate with some of our Wisconsin family in Madison earlier in the month.


I can't believe our little boy is one. The year has gone by so fast and brought so many changes for us. Many days, I can't believe that I am a mother. It has been an amazing, difficult, eye opening, impossible to anticipate and even more impossible to explain experience for me. In the past year I have learned: breastfeeding is not initially instinctive for all babies, diapers can be changed in a back car seat in a McDonald's parking lot, work is not as important as I once thought it to be, some days I want to be a stay-at-home mother, some days I don't want to be a mother at all, my husband is an amazing dad, sometimes no matter what you do, there will be tears, there is never enough time no matter how organized I am, it is possible to survive a 12 hour plane ride with an infant, and I secretly like it when my baby can't sleep in the middle of the night because it is the only time he is snuggly. I continue to learn about my identity as a mother and how that intersects with my identity as a woman, wife, social worker, daughter, sister, friend, and person. I can't imagine what the next year will bring.

I love you, little man. You truly are life's greatest present. Happy birthday and here's to the next year.

P.S. For a look at a cool birthday collage, take a look at this post from my best friend's blog. Thanks, Jen, for the tribute to Jack and the awesome pictures on this page. Motherhood without you would be much more difficult!