The Day After

The day after Tate's birthday was not so great. We went to the doctor in the morning and Tate was given 4 shots. He was a very sad boy. He seemed to actually remember the doctor's office for the first time. The crackly paper freaked him out. Poor babe.

Then after Tate's morning nap I put him down to play with toys and went into the kitchen to make lunch. I heard him trip and bang something, hurried back in to the room to get him, and found him curled up in a ball on the floor next to our TV shelf (that has quite sharp edges turns out) holding his breath before he let out a loud scream. I picked him up and blood dripped onto my pants. Oh my was I freaked out. His forehead had about a half inch gash above his right eyebrow and it was dented in pretty bad and gushing blood. Ick. I have heard that head wounds bleed a lot, but I had never experienced it first hand. Wow. His head was just gushing. I ran to get a rag and called Aubry because she is a nurse and would keep a level head and tell me what she thought. We talked for a bit about how big it was and how much blood and such and while we were talking it stopped bleeding for the most part so she said it must not be too deep. She told us we could just disinfect it and superglue it shut. So after Glenn got home from school (so he could help me hold little dude still), that's what we did. It took a while to calm him down, especially since I kept wiping his owie with a rag to keep the blood out of his face. I finally got him to sleep and then after he woke up it was like it never happened. Here is little man about an hour post-wack. And here he is with his head super glued shut.I hope he doesn't have too much of a scar. The superglue fell off today and it still doesn't look very good. He doesn't seem bothered by it at all. Poor kid. He had such a fun birthday and then the next day was really not good. He must be so confused.

This was my first brush with blood as a mom. I knew it was coming, especially since I am the mother of a busy boy. I am not looking forward to more.

First Birthday!

Tate's big day was so nice. We had pancakes for breakfast. Tate managed to grab the one big piece that I hadn't ripped up yet when I went into the kitchen really quick. He knew that was the best piece.
We went to lunch with some friends from the ward. They have a sweet little girl who is a few months older than Tate and she always yells his name and gets really excited when she sees him. It's adorable.

Then when Glenn got home we opened a few presents. Some new pjs, and a basketball hoop from Glenn and I (Glenn is a little excited to start playing sports with our son), an awesome little basketball hoop that makes noises and some fun balls from Nana and Papa. The paper was far more exciting than the presents but I think he did find it interesting that all of the crackly paper had stuff inside.
We had a whole bunch of friends over. Tate had fun wandering through the sea of toys and little people. We, the grown ups, ate yummy food and chatted. Then came the cake. I had a friend in my ward make a cake for the party and a little cake for Tate. She just started a business and they turned out so cute. http://cakesbycassandra.weebly.com/ Unfortunately, I totally spaced getting a picture of the big cake before it was chopped up and devoured. I'll have to post one when she emails a picture to me.

It was so fun to watch Tate's reaction to the cake. He was fascinated by the fire. And then he got to taste it.

His reaction went from, "Hmm, this looks good, I think I'll try it."

To, "Wow, that is delicious! I want more!"

And finally, "How can I get more of it to my mouth faster?"

Delicious! Mother, we should eat this every day!

I know little man. It is so good, isn't it? I don't know why I thought the cake devouring was so stinkin' funny. I could have watched him frantically shove cake in his face all night. I guess I really don't give him too many sweets so it was a special treat. By the third handful his hand was shaking on the way to the cake, he was so excited for more. By the end he had handfuls of cake in his fists. He didn't think he could eat any more but he just didn't want to let it go. He still got pretty mad at Glenn when he took the cake away the put him in the tub.

After the tub we got in new jammas and opened presents from sweet friends. They gave Tate such perfect gifts: new bibs, and little peoplehome made rattles, and trucks and balls. Little Tate did not know what to do with it all!And then there was paper and tissue all over the place at the end. So many things that make fantastic crackly noises!

It was a wonderful day! Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us, even through phone calls and emails. It was so fun to spend a day just celebrating our little boy! Happy year one little man.

Dear Tate,

Dear Tate,
Happy Birthday Little Man. Today you are one year old. All day long I've been singing you "Happy Birthday". You seem to like it every time although you don't really get what it means. We had pancakes for breakfast, went out with the Cluff ladies for lunch, and had an awesome party for you tonight. Lots of our dear friends came over to wish you Happy Birthday. We had yummy cake (which you devoured with gusto), tons and tons of sweet presents, and played with toys. I think you had a pretty fun day.
Tate my little lovie, I cannot believe that you are one year old today. Your first year went so fast. Maybe it's because we've moved around and traveled so much that all of the big chunks of time when we were away just blurred together and made it seem faster. Maybe it's because once you came into our little fam everything changed, even the way that time seems to pass.
One year ago you came into our little family and I became your mom. I love being your mom Tate. I love getting you out of your crib and snuggling you in the morning. I love feeding you food and watching you react to new things you try. I love playing with you, reading books, and singing songs. I love feeding you bottles which is getting to be one of the few times when I can get you to hold still and snuggle. I love taking care of you and watching you grow and learn new things. Seeing the world through your eyes makes me happy because everything is so exciting to you. You remind me to slow down and enjoy the sweet little things in life the way you do.
You have always been a sweet and content little man. You cry when you're tired, feeling sick or hurt, and sometimes when you're hungry, but that's about it. If those things are taken care of then you're chattering to yourself and playing and happy as can be. You are pretty relaxed and don't get upset very easily. You fall down sometimes and most of the time you've moved on before I can get there to comfort you. It takes a pretty good owie to make you upset. You can keep yourself busy just playing with your toys, but you do like to know that we're around. Sometimes you follow us around from room to room and sometimes you take off down the hall and just come back to check in with us every minute or two.
You love books, especially when dad reads them. Your favorite at the moment is our little Dr. Seuss book, The Foot Book. Dad reads it with his very animated voice and tickles you on certain pages. It's very fun. You also love balls. You have a few and you carry them around from room to room.
You love music. You know how to say something like, "Dance" and you bend your knees a little to wiggle when you hear music. Sometimes you sing to us from your car seat. You've always been very vocal, constantly chatting to yourself as you move along. Your giggle is absolutely fantastic. It's one of the things I love most about you. It doesn't take much to make you smile or giggle and when you do it lights up your whole face with excitement and happiness and the cutest little scratchy giggle comes out. I can't keep from smiling when you're giggling. It's so great.
Tate, you are a very special boy. You bring so much light, happiness, and sweetness wherever you go. Your dad and I often talk about what a sweet kid you are. We think you are the best and most handsome little boy there is. We couldn't love you any more than we do.
I love you little man. You have made my life so much more fun and so much fuller than it was a year ago. You are a joy to be around and I am so proud to be your mother.
Happy One little Tate.
Love,
Mom

Snuggles

This is what we're doing today. Snuggling. Little man is a feeling a little under the weather. Nothing too awful. Just a wee bit of vomit and enough icky feeling to make him want me to hold him constantly and to make his little body limp and tired. I am actually loving the way his little body just melts into my shoulder when I pick him up.And here's a picture Tuesday. Turns out Tate LOVES bananas!

Tate at 51 weeks old.

Little Gorilla

Tate at 50 weeks old!This is what Tate looks like these days. He likes to walk back and forth across the entire house picking up different toys and carrying them around with both hands in the air like a little gorilla. He's usually holding a toy in each hand as he waddles from room to room, occasionally stopping to bang his toys on walls, window sills, chairs, or other pieces of furniture. Then he'll see another one of his toys and decide to switch one in his hand for that one and he's off again. There are toys spread out all over the house. It's like a little trail of where Tate has been today. My favorite is to watch him slowly bend over to pick up a toy then stand back up. It's a very slow process that looks very tricky and usually involves a grunt or two.