Happy Birthday, my precious child!

Until a year ago, I was a regular blogger keeping track of my daughter's hilarious comments, precocious moments, and highlights of her growth and maturity. THEN child #2 came along and my time was not what it used to be. I just couldn't manage to document every new thing my precious child has done in the last year and while I enjoy Facebooking, it seems to have become like an instantaneous blogging site and real blogging is going by the wayside. BUT on this momentous occasion in my son's life, I fall back on the familiar: the place with the space to blab on and on and document my feelings.

One year ago at this moment in time, I was experiencing labor and getting ready to welcome a baby into this world with my husband by my side, my parents and sister in the delivery room, and my best friend (who is a doctor) capturing it on film. I vividly remember the entire day leading up to being admitted into the hospital and the labor and the pushing and the shock when my husband announced, "It's a Boy!"

That statement was uttered many times over and over in the first few months of Yonatan's life as we adjusted to different body parts, lots of blue, and another baby with an easygoing personality.

We were concerned that we wouldn't be as amazed at the things our 2nd baby did because we'd already experienced them with our first. We were worried that we wouldn't be able to figure it out with two and manage to actually get out of the house before noon. We weren't sure we'd love our 2nd child as intensely or as deeply as our 1st one.

Our baby boy turns one and our life with him is one of constant amazement and awe at the things he does and accomplishes. It's a life of energy, smiles, and constant motion. We do get out of the house before noon and our intense love of this adorable boy is as deep as our love of our daughter.

Yonatan is well over 20 pounds ( we guess closer to 25) and about 29 inches long. He easily reaches the top of the kitchen table, the drawer with all the pens and markers in it, and the 2nd shelf of the bookcase where he dumps all the books on the floor until he finds the one he wants to read.

Just like his sister, he LOVES books and sits with them by himself for almost 10 minutes "reading." He loves to play in the kitchen and the sink is the first thing to go so he can hide things in the well underneath. THEN they get stuck and he screams for help. He also loves the telephone and will happily play with any phone at any time.

He is quick on the crawl and very quick on the walking around furniture. He pulls himself up and lets go and is very solid on his feet. If you hold a finger, he'll walk with you. He wants to walk so badly, but just doesn't quite have the confidence to go for it yet!

He has 6 teeth and a lot of hair on his head. He does not like baby food anymore and refuses to eat some of his favorites that he liked just last week! He is a smiling baby with big beautiful eyes. He wakes up happy and snuggly and loves to cuddle. The light of his life is his big sister. Her room and in her wake is his favorite place to be.

He has a strong personality; knows what he wants, and lets you know. He has a huge vocabulary and we are constantly amazed by his language development. Elmo is one of his favorite words. But he says Savta, Grandma, Grandpa, Hadarya, Ima, Aba, banana, sock, and repeats everything.

I am sad to leave his babyhood behind him and yet very excited to see the toddler he'll become. We are so blessed to call him our son and are concerns were for naught...as we are constantly amazed every time he does something new, gets a new tooth, or says a word. Just as excited as we were with our daughter, we revel in our son's accomplishments.

Happy 1st Birthday, Little Man!