Happy Birthday, Milo!!!!

Milo playing in his new Cozy Coupe

Birthday dinner outing at Tomatina. Milo ate all his ravioli we ordered him and enjoyed his first taste of ice cream!

Family of Four.

One year old! It's hard to believe but the calendar says it's true. All week I've been reflecting and remembering what this week was like one year ago. Remembering: our dinner at the Rau-Berg's house the night that labor started, the drama and waiting game of the next 2 days (going on a walk, baking, watching Law and Order, pacing a lot in order to keep moving even when not "on a walk,") trying to rest, crying on the phone with my doctor, our drive during rush hour to the hospital, the weather (perfect, quiet, warm, colorful), Colleen's grounding text when we were parking, and then the room where we finally, the next day, met our beautiful son.

I hope I remember these things forever, and I hope I remember this past year. It's likely I'll be forgetting a lot. I haven't slept much this year plus time is on fast forward. Milo is forever my baby, but he's also turned into a little boy, like a real boy, a kid. I squint and try to see just baby, but his grown up expressions, controlled movements, and strong opinions shine through. And thankfully, it's 1000% true, he gets cuter everyday!

Honoring tradition, the rest of this posting will be like Dahlia's 1 year posting. (http://laskylife.blogspot.com/2010/01/dahlia-is-one.html)

Same questions, new munchkin.

Who are you? Here's some tidbits.

What do you love to do?
Roll balls, catch balls, pretend to bounce balls, find new balls, see if something can be treated like a ball, be chased by Dahlia and try to chase her back, eating, walk with clacking alligator walker, shake your maracas.

What do you not like?
Strangers (i.e. anyone you don't see on a very regular basis) make you nervous. The vacuum cleaner is a scary monster that makes you scream.

What are your favorite foods?
You are such a good eater! You eat as much, sometimes more than Dahlia. But you LOVE (aka inhale) strawberries, bananas, oranges, peanut butter (add a dollop of peanut butter to something and you'll gobble it right up), yogurt, roasted seaweed. And you will try anything. I'm sure this won't last but it sure is fun while it's lasting.

What is your favorite toy?
Did I mention you love balls? 

What is one of my favorite things you do right now?
You love to make things be empty. Like the basket of clean laundry--you empty it all onto the floor in an intense, bordering on aggressive way that looks like you believe it is the world's most important task. And when it's finally empty you start throwing things back into it so you can throw them out again. You've been doing this with everything that presents this opportunity (pebbles in Tita's backyard, toy bins, bookshelves, dried leaves in a pot). The part I love about it is the intensity, not so much the massive mess you leave behind, but the intensity and style is great.

What is one of Daddy's favorite things you do right now?
Tries to copy things that Dahlia does--pointing at what she points at, screams when she screams, splashes when she splashes.

What is one of Dahlia's favorite things you do right now?
Standing on his own. She thinks it's funny when you stand by yourself for long periods of time. She's very encouraging of you moving to the next step--taking a step! And she likes to copy you and pretend she's the baby learning to stand up, too.

How are you sleeping?Bedtime is around 6:45. You usually wake up once, between 12 and 2am, and often that's it. Sometimes you wake again around 5 for another snack. You're awake and happy as ever around 7:30am.

Nicknames: Milo (with spanish pronunciation /mee-loe/), Bud Budz, Budz, Milobaby, Miloman

Weight: 23 pounds

Cuteness factor: Off the charts. Every time (like every-single-time) I look at you, a part of my insides turns over and melts. I've learned to live with a constant woozy feeling all day long. :)