Getting Ready for the Big ONE

One year ago, at about this time (8pm-ish) I was so completely done with being pregnant that I yelled at my husband about anything I could think of, ordered the spiciest thai food on the menu and then braced myself and my poor husband for the sex I was going to force us to have in order to induce labor.

Sex was unnecessary.

About 3 hours from now, one year ago, my water broke.

Happy Father's Day!

Today is our first Father's Day.  The day that we celebrate Daddy and let him do anything he wants (which was:  sleep til 1pm, watch soccer and eat ice cream).

We have a lot to celebrate in this household.  Matt (Daddy, as Daniel knows him) is a stay-at-home-Dad and devotes his days to Daniel.  They play, go on adventures, meet friends in the park, go to music class and generally hang around town learning about life together.

Matt makes Daniel so happy that when Matt leaves a room, Daniel cries.

I honestly couldn't ask for a better father for my baby boy than Matt and I know that Daniel knows how lucky he is to have such an amazing best friend as a Dad.

So here's to my husband, Daniel's Daddy, the person who all Dads should strive to emulate.

We love you so much and hope that you enjoyed your very first Father's Day!

The Backside of 35

Today is my birthday.  I'm 36 years old.

My best friend called me this morning and said "welcome to the bad side of 35" (which I found hilarious) and I've decided that I would rather like to consider it the "backside" of 35.  I mean, I've never been one to be down on birthdays.  My week-long "Marnipalooza" birthday celebrations have always made me happy and while I'm way more focused on Daniel's first birthday than my own, I would like to say that I am celebrating my life and all of the things that make it beautiful.

Thanks to my mom & dad (who celebrated their 42 wedding anniversary yesterday... WHOA!) for having me!

11 Months!

I've been thinking that Daniel's 11 month birthday would be the least important (not that it's really possible to have a less important month) out of all during his first year since it's so close to the big ONE.  But, now that I'm sitting down with this post, I realize that it's actually one of the most special.  I suppose this is my baby's last birthday as a "baby".  Doesn't he turn into a "toddler" next month?

Last night (his actual 11 month birthday), I came home late from a work dinner (after leaving at 7am, thereby barely seeing Daniel) and I snuck into his room (which I do every night).  Rather than just caressing him, I lifted him out of his crib and held him for 10 or so minutes.  I was amazed by how big he felt - how substantial he felt in my arms and I allowed myself to simply be in the moment - enjoying the weight of my sleeping baby boy in my arms.

Daniel is growing so fast that it's hard to sometimes see him for who is is on any given day, rather than remembering him as a little baby or thinking about what it will be like when he's running around.  Last night, however, I enjoyed every second of my beautiful, babbling, crawling, cruising, smiley, serious, loving and sleeping baby boy.
 

 Happy 11 month birthday, Daniel Bing!

A Couple of Cute Videos

Daniel is pretty hilarious these days.  He's really into dancing and his dance moves change based on where he physically is when he's dancing.  The below is what I like to call Daniel's "Mindless Jamming".  This is when he's clearly focused on something else, but just cannot stop his little booty from moving.  Also, he has started this jam-band type head swinging which I personally love because it reminds me of Phish shows:


Daniel is also finally enjoying laying down again.  Since he started crawling it's been basically impossible to lie him down except when he's sleeping.  Here's his fist attempt at hiding under the covers:

Daniel "walking"

Danie's friend, Oliver, turned ONE and we celebrated in a Hoboken park this past Saturday. Since the lawn was large, it was easy to let Daniel crawl around and play on his own or with his friends (amazing relief since we are used to guarding him from our non-baby-proofed home). I looked around to see were my little guy was... and low and behold, I saw THIS:



Is this exciting or what? We promptly came home and Uncle Richie put together this amazing wagon from the Roonbergs. One problem: things with wheels move MUCH faster on hardwood floors than they do on grass. He may not be quite ready yet!

A Very Belated 10 Month Birthday Post!

Daniel Bing turned 10 months about a week ago.  We were in Atlanta visiting my home for a week and celebrated Mother's Day there, as well.  Daniel rocked the ATL.  He hung out with his grandparents (Nana & Papa G) every day while I worked and then partied over the weekend with his whole family.

The past month has gone by extremely fast and I can only blame my current travel schedule for that.  In fact, I honestly feel like I missed the entire 9th month of my son's life because I was on the road every week during the month.  I have 2 more weeks of travel and then I'm considering myself "grounded" until the end of the summer.  I miss my guys!

Here they are in all of their glory!

While not to much "major" stuff has happened between months 9 & 10,  I will say that Daniel is up to a few amazing new tricks:
- He loves his tooth and plays with it a lot (yes, 10 months and one tooth)
- Waving (goodbye, we think... sometimes he just waves)
- Mama and Dada are now regular "words" but he doesn't direct those words towards us
- The little dude is STRONG.  Honestly, how can someone who weighs 21 pounds be so damn strong?
- Crusing (slowly but surely)
- Climbing up stairs (he's basically become a pro even in our own brownstone which has super steep and narrow stairs)
- He's getting really good at singing with me
- He is SUPER smiley and giggly.  This is new for Daniel and may become it's own blog post
- He now owns 3 pairs of shoes
- His poops STINK (sorry, but I am trying to detail his life, you know!)
- He wants to eat and drink everything that we are eating and drinking.  This is good until he projectile vomits in a restaurant (apparently my sister did this all the time, too)
- When I tap my hand against his mouth, he says "ahhhh" and it makes a funny sound (learned this from Christine & Barrett and I have always looked forward to it!)
- Flirts HARD CORE
- Dances kind of like I did when I would go to Phish shows in college (he shakes his head "no) and kind of grooves

My little man is getting so big and I used to be really scared of this.  I used to think that the bigger he got, the less of my baby he would be.  But it's the opposite - I fall more in love with him as the days go on because I get to know him so much better.

Daniel's 10 month birthday fell one day before Mother's Day (obviously my first) and I feel honored to be this little man's mommy.  I hope that I keep improving with time and make him proud of me - just like I will always be of him!

I've taken so much video in the last month that I've tried to put together a little montage.  I hope it works and hope you enjoy (sorry if it's too long and excuse all of the nudity!)

Once again, Happy Birthday my little boy!