Eli's 1st Bday, Part one: some thoughts...

I cannot believe that Scott and I have a 1year old. Time really does fly, man! Thinking about little Eli's first year and everything he has been through makes my heart swell right up to the moon and back. As most of you know, Eli was born 2 months early and spent his first 3.5 weeks of life in the NICU, remaining strong the whole time. He was also born with club-feet and had to wear casts on his feet/legs for several months. At 4months he had two surgeries on his feet, and at 7months he had an MRI done on his spine, which btw came back completely normal! Through it all Eli did so, so wonderful, he is such a strong boy and fortunately he will never remember any of it. Scott and I on the other hand were also strong, however we did find ourselves in moments of panic,sadness and confusion. I'll never forget after Eli's foot surgery when the doctor came out and told us 'everything went great, Eli was doing great and we could see him soon'...Scott fell into my arms sobbing with relief. But there are also so many other happy, joyous moments with Eli this first year. Such as his first Xmas, his first time in the bath and LOVING it, his first time in the pool, the swing...seeing his face light up around animals, laughing at Mommy's, daddy's, Grammies silly antics, the first time he sat up, crawled, ate food, sat still and enjoyed a book, a song! There is so much to explore and learn and I am honored that I was chosen to be Eli's mom. He is truly a sweet little boy with a great, kind heart who makes the world light up around him!

This past month, Eli you:
-are crawling
-started music class
-made some wonderful new friends
-got 2 baby-sitters and seem to like them!
-feed yourself some things

Your favorite songs:
 -twinkle twinkle little star, somewhere out there and all the new songs from music

Your favorite books:
Olivia, Goodnight Moon, Belly Button Book and Hey, wake up!

You love to:
go for walks, go to the park, have dance parties, play on the grass, chase the cats, eat, look/read books and explore the house, the bathroom is your particular favorite?


Love you so much 'Boots!!!'