Happy birthday Eric

I have a longer post in the works with some more specifics on our 12 months with Eric, but I wanted to get a quick one out about his actual birthday.  We celebrated his birthday early with the extended family, so on his actual birthday, Matt, Olivia and I had him (mostly) to ourselves!  Olivia woke up early and was SO excited to go into his room together singing and wake him up!  He was tired and not really sure what was going on, but he was a pretty good sport about it all.

Then we took him downstairs to show him his presents: a new "house" and his very own "Ah" (Alexa).

He recognized Alexa right away and was so happy! He immediately began shouting "Ah! Ah!"

It took him a few minutes to get into the playhouse, but once Olivia showed him how it was done, he got the hang of it. (Note: Yes, this is the exact same house we got Olivia for her 1st birthday.  Well not the exact same one.  Because even though that was my plan since before he was even born and I refused to let Matt donate or sell Olivia's for 5 years because I was intent on giving it to Eric, we LEFT IT AT QUEENSBURY after we sold it - left it in the garage, along with a whole pile of other baby/kid stuff I was saving for Eric!  So I found another house on our local mommy site and bought that one.  Insert all the eye roll emoji's here).

He was really into the mail - he liked putting it in the mail slot and playing peek-a-boo with it!

Unfortunately for Eric, mamma had a ton of work to do, so he didn't get to skip school for his first birthday but I was able to sneak out a little early.  Lucky for him, his teachers are obsessed with him and when he skipped his morning nap, they took him outside for a little birthday playtime with the whole playground to himself.  Spoiled?  No.  You must be thinking about someone else's child. ;)  This is the picture I got that morning from his teachers.  Please note the ridiculously cute mohawk thing he has going on courtesy of Miss Vivian.

After I picked him up that afternoon we went home for a little more playtime

And then headed to Lupe (we think this is his favorite restaurant) for some Mexican food - he chowed down on tortillas, queso, rice and beans, even offering to share with daddy!

Full belly, happy heart....

What a wonderful year it has been!  Time is a funny thing.  In some ways, it seems like just yesterday I was home with him.  I remember his birth and my days on maternity leave much more vividly than Olivia's.  I actually really long for those days.  But in other ways, it seems like he's been here much longer.  Maybe because we've been waiting for him for so long.  Regardless, this little guy has a huge piece of our hearts and I can't wait to see the fun we have in store.

I recently read this quote and immediately thought of Eric: “The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” (Thich Nhat Hanh)

More than anything this past year, Eric had attention - from family, friends and even complete strangers that he yelled at until they smiled at him - and what JOY we have had watching him bloom! Happy birthday to the happiest baby on the block who so perfectly found his place in our hearts!