Happy Birthday to our Buddy Bear!

From Baby Bear.....

....to Buddy Bear!

We have a one year old today!

Dearest Buddy Bear,

Happy, happy birthday, sweet boy.  Where we once saw a baby, we now have a little buddy.  You are so much more than the baby of our family.  You are the irreplaceable smile that starts our day, the pitter-patter of hands and feet following us across the room, the little monster ever eager to discover every nook of our house.  You have always been so alert and happy by day, even as a new baby.  You are my buddy who keeps me company: sleeping by our bed, snuggled in a sling, tucked on my hip, riding in the backpack; I love every minute of having you so near.

But you have so much growing to do!  I know it because of how much you have already grown, right before our eyes....

April:  Sweet peaceful soul, you joined our fray on Holy Wednesday before Easter, just like your sister.  You were so kind to wait until after your Mom's birthday to come.  Your siblings ask for you first thing every morning when they wake up.  Your snuggles are so sweet, you are so easy on us all.

May:  Your smile arrives to make our day.  Each morning, as we eat breakfast, you look out the big living room window from your bouncer before you take your nap.  I love to have you close, so grateful for your company.  You keep me company while we do laundry, you sit with me during my medical school graduation.  We take you to the cabin for the first time and to your first baseball game.

June:  You are not yet playing with toys, but your brother and sister love to bring you plenty of them to keep you happy if you cry.  You can hold your head up, and you love to sit with us while we are reading stories together.  You check up with flying colors at our last visit with Dr. Dailey.  Your eyes are definitely brown now, always framed by your happy eyebrows!

July:   We are always on the go, so you spend lots of time in the sling or the front-pack, which is fine with you, because that is your favorite place to be!  You can get out of your swaddler at night, you can sit up in your bouncer, you are getting so big.  You meet your cousins for the fourth and are the youngest family member to help celebrate your GG's 90th birthday at the cabin.

August:  You made a cross-country move at the ripe old age of three months, but your bed is still the bassinet sitting next to mom & dad's bed.  You like to munch on your fingers, and by now you have found your toes.  You are rolling over and sitting in the Bumbo, which you couldn't do only weeks before in Minnesota!  Thanks for your belly laugh, your giggles, and for always trying to get my attention; you make me feel like a movie star.

September:  We take you to your first Carolina Football Game and to Boston to see your cousins.  You are quite the traveler by five months of age!  Now that G-Bear and E-Bear have started school, you and I have time for daily morning walks.  I love that time with you, as we go strolling through the neighborhoods.

October:  After chomping on toys for weeks, your first tooth makes an appearance!  Hallelujah!  You enjoy your first rice cereal and butternut squash.  You may sit in your bumbo, but not for long, because you are scooting on your tummy and playing in the exersaucer.  At six months, we celebrate with ice cream for us, applesauce for you :).

November:  You are the most adorable pumpkin at MoMo's for Halloween.  You weathered your first big illness like a champ, certainly better than your mom.  You surprise your siblings with your scoots, because you can now chase them around the room to see what they are doing.  They love to include you (even in their Tea Parties!), because you are one of their favorite friends.  We celebrate your first Thanksgiving feast with cousins in NC.

December:  You are helping us decorate the tree with lights, decorating Christmas cookies with us at the table, riding Daddy's shoulders at the park, wrestling with your siblings, always smiling and never grumpy (unless it is the middle of the night).  Sweet boy, our Christmas is extra sweet with you, your smile, your babbles, your crawling (on Christmas Eve!) and the raspberries you learn to dish out.  You finish the month with cheerios at MoMo's -- what a fitting way to finish the year!

January:  You are the cutest Big Al on the block in New Orleans for the BCS game!  You love to splash at the Wolf Lodge pool with your cousins, and you have a great time playing in the tent with G-Bear and E-Bear on our rainy January days.  By nine months you are crawling out of your bassinet, and it is time to switch to the crib.  But where should we put you?  We settle on the playroom bathroom, and you sleep like a champ.  Before the month is out, you are standing and furniture walking.  Siblings beware:  there is little that is out of your reach!

February:  You are exploring and getting into everything!  Whether you are chewing on the power strip that belongs behind the couch, tearing into my cookbooks or emptying the toy room shelves, you are determined and successful.  You are waving hello, clapping along, eating voraciously!  You brighten so many days, including the first and only snow day of the winter.

March:  I decide to rearrange our shelves to be more welcoming for you, and you are very grateful.  Now you can tear into cups and blocks, pots and pans, tupperware and pantry food without my interference.  You are a tough little cookie--often bonking you head in your pursuits, but never staying sad for long.  You are eating big kid meals of chunks by yourself. You are endlessly pursuing your siblings, and they are endlessly delighted by you.  G-Bear loves to wrestle with you and pick you up.  E-Bear loves to roll on the floor and giggle with you.  They both love to wake you up in the morning or from your nap.  I love having you tug at my hair from the backpack, watching you open and close the screen porch door in delight, or playing peek-a-boo.

April:  You love your green blankie, you love to play ball, you love ice cream licks and you love to sing songs.  You play at the playground by holding onto the bars and crawling around on the bridge.  You hair curls around your ears now, especially when it gets hot outside.  You love it when I understand what you want, and you get frustrated now when you don't get your way.  Your babbles will be words before long, because you have more and more to say these days.  Your first molar tooth has come in, and you are working on several more!

Buddy Bear, even as you turn one, you couldn't be more irreplaceable in our lives.  You have a joyful, easy-going presence.  You are so adoring and loving toward your siblings, who adore you in return. They can't wait for you to wake up from your naps to play with them, even though they do pretend to run from you, little monster, in their make-believe games.  Thank you for snuggling me, hanging out with me, being my Little Buddy.   Daddy and I love you so much.   Happy, happy birthday, sweet boy.