One year

Last year on this day, we were in the hospital. We weren't quite sure what we were about to get ourselves into. What would life with two kids look like? What would the baby's personality be like? What were we going to name him?!?

Then without much labor or pain, a baby boy came into the world. He kept his eyes tightly shut for days, it seemed... like he wasn't quite sure what he had gotten himself into either. He was a big boy (9lbs. 4oz.) with huge chubby cheeks that made one wonder where his chin had gone. We named him Jonathan. He was God's gracious gift to us. He stayed up at night (even that first night) and slept all day. He wanted to nurse for long periods of time. Elisa got used to sitting beside me on the couch, reading book after book, while Jonathan nursed.

As his little personality started to show, I knew that we had just been given a total sweetheart. He smiled easily and cried rarely. When laid down in his crib, he would just fall asleep, without so much as a whimper. He was such an easy baby.

Now, a whole year has gone by. He is one. He is still a sweetheart. Still falls asleep easily. Still wakes up at night sometimes. Still smiles easily and cries rarely. He loves people... especially those he knows: Elisa, Greg, me, his grandparents.

He is starting to do things that amaze me. I think he might be slightly mechanical/spatial: he tries to build with Elisa's legos (just can't quite get them to stick together like she does); he puts toys away or into other things (the other day took the fridge magnets down and put them into a snack cup). He's very physical: loves to climb (will even climb up the step stool in the bathroom and then onto the precarious ledge of the large rubbermaid container that sits under the sink so that he can reach into the sink); crawls very fast (kind of looks like a bulldog when he's coming towards you); loves to climb stairs and is really trying to figure out how to get down stairs; will climb up the couch and onto the window sill and then stand there banging on the window and "yelling" at people who walk by.

He loves exploring. He's very curious about everything. Whenever the fridge door is open he crawls just as fast as he can to try to get there before it closes again. One time he got there in time to grab a plum and take a huge bite out of it before we could do anything. When the house door is open, he tries to escape. "He's caping, He's caping!" Leesi will yell gleefully whenever this happens. When the bathroom door is open, he loves to open the toilet lid and splash in the water, or climb onto Leesi's little potty and then play with the toilet paper.

A whole year. We've had a whole year with this little guy... and life with him just gets better and better. I am so thankful for him... for his personality, his laughter, his life. I'm thankful that we have a son, and that Elisa has a brother.

Happy Birthday Jonathan! We love you!