How the First Year Went

My dear little boy,

I'm probably repeating the cry of millions of mothers through the ages, but I can't believe you're growing up so fast! How has it been a year already? We started out by calling you Baby Guy, but cannot in good conscience call you a baby anymore; it's Little Man now, especially since you started toddling a week ago.

A year ago, you were a slightly-squashed looking (but still adorable to me) little baby who couldn't do anything but eat, cry, and excrete (note that I left sleep out of that list, because you were a notoriously awake newborn), and now you're a toddler who can basically eat everything we eat, say "mama," and take off like a rocket when you don't want your diaper changed. A year ago, I was thirty-five pounds heavier and much better rested, but also much more selfish and less compassionate. Now, I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight (phew! I was seriously worried that I wouldn't be able to wear any of my cool handmade clothes anymore) and short on sleep, but I'd like to think I'm a better person now. You have challenged me in so many ways, but (spoiler alert: another mommy cliche coming) I wouldn't trade the last year for anything.

Last night Daddy and I were reminiscing about the last year and talking about how the reality of parenting did or did not match up to our expectations; we both agreed that we had been expecting all the difficulties, but what we were surprised about was how much fun it was. You are a remarkably fun little boy, and it's a pleasure to see you grow and learn. Thanks for defying our expectations, Zachary. And based on the way you recklessly climb on everything, it seems you think you can defy gravity as well!

Love you so, so much.

Mommy

New this month:

• Toddling: You can take several steps unassisted now! You still rely on crawling 95% of the time, though, since it's much faster. 
• Talking: Kind of. You inconsistently call me mama; I don't think you know it's a name for me, it's more like "hmm, if I say these syllables everyone exclaims and claps, and Mommy comes running over to swoop me up and kiss me." You also inconsistently say "貓貓" when you see Walnut or cat pictures in your books. This, of course, delights me to no end. So much better than having your first word be "poop" the way a certain doctor-to-be kept hoping.
• Putting in and taking out: You are starting to realize that things can be inside other things, so you've been exploring what objects can fit inside various containers and boxes. The first time you deliberately put a link into the gelato container, I cheered so much that you kept putting that one link in and out, instead of putting the other nineteen links in. 
• Student babysitters: Twice a week, senior girls take turns watching you during lunchtime so that I can get copies made and tutoring done. As far as I know, you've been fine with all the new faces. You little extrovert, you!
• Stealing food: Every afternoon, I sit down and try to eat an apple/peach/plum/some other fruit with a core, and inevitably as soon as you realize that there's eating going on that you're not part of, you come over and sit on my lap and grab it. And then get angry when I try to take a bite. So then you end up finishing my fruit for me. I suppose there are worse diet plans out there; angry baby steals all your food after two bites sounds better to me than only drinking lemon juice with cayenne powder or some such nonsense...

Here, you've just stolen Daddy's banana. You ended up eating two-thirds of it. 

One year old stats: 

• You have grown over ten inches, almost tripled your weight, and sprouted eight teeth. 
• You are now wearing size three diapers, 12-18m clothing, and no shoes yet. 
• You have now slept for almost 4800 hours, used almost 2000 diapers, and drank almost 8 gallons of expressed milk. I have spent over 600 hours nursing you (and making good use of my smartphone and Netflix subscription). 
• Your favorite foods are avocado, blueberries, watermelon, cheese, and carbs of all kinds, except rice. What kind of Asian baby are you?!
• Favorite toys include the IKEA stacking cups, Frodo, the (sealed) tube of diaper rash cream, and my yardstick. You love playing throw-Frodo-off-the-couch, patty cake, and hide and seek/peekaboo. Dancing to "Barnyard Dance" is also a favorite activity. 
• Favorite books are CAT, The Bellybutton Book, and two Chinese animal books that 爺爺 got you in Hong Kong.

When I ask you to find the cow, you turn to the right page 75% of the time. 

Your first birthday party:

The parenting book that Daddy got recommends keeping a first birthday party small and short and simple so as to avoid overstimulating a baby -- invite no more than 6-8 adults and 2-3 other babies, keeping the whole even less than 1.5 hours -- but we didn't read that part until after the party, so we ended up having 25 adults and six kids over for three hours. Oops. Even so, you did great and loved getting to see so many people and play with all your little friends, and you didn't even cry when we sang happy birthday to you! Somehow, in all the chaos, I managed to totally forget to take any pictures though. Oops again. 

I did, however, manage to take this picture of all your pictures! So meta, I know,

On the day of your actual birthday we had a family dinner with a special healthy baby cupcake for you (applesauce, no refined sugar, zucchini baked into it). I forgot to get yogurt for the frosting so we made do with whipped cream, and then I didn't think to put it on a nice plate so the picture of the cupcake sitting on the sad little cooling rack is a little silly. Oops for a third time. 

But hey, you survived a year, we survived a year, and everyone is happy and thriving despite all the oopses. I think that's an accomplishment! 

I think this picture accurately sums up everyone's feelings about the first year as a family of four: Mommy and Daddy are thrilled, Walnut is indifferent/not amused, and you're wondering what the big deal is.