What's In A Word? Everything.

Will has the following words in his vocabulary bank:

Dada
Nana (for the fruit)
Jack (dog's name)
Kitty (he is fascinated by our cat)
Quack (from the book "Barnyard Dance", where he says the Quack part along with me)
Caw-Caw (which is like a bird noise that our friend makes)

and, as of yesterday. . .

Mama.

There are no words to describe the way my heart melted when he uttered those longed-for syllables. When he first said it, I was changing his diaper. I stopped and looked at him in disbelief. His whole face lit up and he was so proud of himself! He started saying it again, and I picked him up, dirty little bottom and all, and hugged him to me with such ferocity.

Mama.

He has since said it quite a few times and I can't get tired of hearing it. There were so many times that I wondered if anyone would ever call me Mama. This one little word encompasses so many big feelings.

TEN

Will turned 10 months old today.

Double digits.

I can't even really believe that in just two months, we will no longer even have an infant in our house. He will be a toddler.

Life has gotten "easier" again, in that it is predictable and routine (for the most part). Our days have a pattern that we roughly stick to. We have been so blessed with an "easy" baby. He eats, he sleeps, he hits his milestones on time. He has the sweetest little personality and the cutest laugh. He laughs and smiles constantly and is such a happy Little Man.

And I am the happiest Mommy.

Announcing Toodle

Busted and her husband welcomed Toodle today. Please go over and give your congratulations to this very deserving family.

In My Next Thirty Years

So, I am now officially thirty. Plus two days.

Like any other birthday before it, it came and went, and I don't feel any different now that it has passed. Age is just a number, right?

We did most of our celebrating last weekend with our friends who came to join us in Leavenworth. When we got back to pick Will up, my MIL had made a cake and we opened our presents (M's birthday is today) from his family there. My parents live three hours south of us and my younger brother is going through a rough time, so my mom has asked that we refrain from a visit until he is out of school. My birthday was on Thursday, so being that it was a workday, it was also pretty quiet. But it was a nice day with lots of fun treats.

I got a coffee and sweet card delivered by my good friend, C. My other good friend, C, brought a beautiful gift basket filled with bath goodies, a bottle of wine, and an amazing piece of tiramisu (my all-time favorite dessert). Most of my friends called to wish me a happy day and so did my mom. My sister sent a text, which I would have found somewhat odd if I didn't like texting so much.

M and Will took me to my favorite seafood restaurant, Ivar's, which has an outdoor fish bar. Eating from the outside bar makes it less expensive (though it's still pretty spendy), and since the day was gorgeous, we took our food to a bench and sat looking out at the sound. It was beautiful. Will had his first french fry. . . and then his second. . . and third. I am not a huge fan of junk food, but he eats so well and healthfully other days, I figure a rare treat isn't hurting anyone. That is how I eat, so I am hopeful that he will follow my example. I also don't want to make foods off limits so they become more tempting. We took a walk after our lunch and then a drive while Will took his afternoon snooze.

M made me dinner that night, grilling carne asada on the bbq and bought me a black & white cake and champagne. We met our neighbor's over our back fence and shared the cake and toasted to my birthday. Since we both have kids, it was a fun way to get to celebrate after they were in bed.

It was a great day and I am honestly okay with being in my thirties. First off, the alternative isn't great, so I might as well accept aging gracefully. Secondly, most of my girlfriends claim that this decade has been the best of their lives so far. I hope that is also true for me. I do feel a sense of peace and happiness that I haven't for a very long time. I think a lot of that has to do with finally becoming a mother and getting to take some time off from the rat race. I also think there is some maturity in there, more of desire to do things to make my family and myself happy, and less about competiting with or trying to please others. Either way, there is a lot to look forward to in my next thirty years.

Party Time, Excellent!

One thing that I love about having a blog is that I have a ready-made panel of experts, reading and willing to offer their advice. And, no, it is not assvice. Not from you guys.

I know it's only June, but I am a type-A person who needs to get started on things in advance. We have reserved the picnic shelter for Will's first birthday party and I am now in planning mode. I have already gotten some good advice from friends who have thrown a first party before me (which is why it is at a park instead of our house, for starters), but now I want to open things up for your suggestions.

Please let me know what you did or didn't do? What would you do differently? What was a disaster? What was a success? What was funny?

So far, this is what I am planning:

• A Monkey Themed Party (for my lil' Monkey)
• 11:30 AM start time (to go around the birthday boy's nap schedule)
• "Easy" foods such as premade sandwiches, salads, fruit and veggie trays, etc.
• I am hiring a photographer (friend of a friend, so it's inexpensive) to take candids and some posed pictures of the day

That's it, so far. What I am specifically wondering about are the following:

• Do I put a finish time on the invite to keep things moving? Everything I read says to keep in short and simple. . . two hours max.
• Should I do cake or cupcakes?
• Should I bother with treat bags (and if so, fun things to put in them)?
• Should I bother with games (there is a lake and playground at this park)?
• Should I do the cheesy "sign the picture frame" thing (it's cheesy, but I like it)?

And, again, anything else you want to throw out there!

Surprise!

So, this last weekend was my first entire one away from Will. M and I dropped him off at his Grandma's on Friday afternoon and didn't come back until Sunday.

I will admit, I had a bit of a rough time leaving him for two days. We were three hours away from him at a little resort town in the Cascades. But I was really glad that we didn't bring him, because what I thought was a romantic weekend getaway for the two of us was actually a surprise birthday party in honor of my 29-Again Birthday (on June 11, so I am still only 29 right now)!

We drank wine, we ate a lot of really good German food (it is a Bavarian-themed town), we had a lot of fun. And so many of my good friends came. One of my best girlfriends came all the way from San Francisco! The three mom-friends that I hang out with pretty much every day came too. It was so wonderful to see everyone and humbling that they would take an entire weekend to help us celebrate.

Even though I had an amazing time, I was very eager to get home to Will. And he missed us, too. Last night, when M put him to bed, he nestled his little face against his shoulder and chanted, "Da-Da" for five minutes until he fell asleep. Precious.

Summer Days

This post really needs pictures, but there is some sort of problem with my memory stick, so the SIX HUNDRED pictures on our camera are stuck there for the time being.

I love summer.

I have always loved summer, but it is not until this summer that I have fully realized how amazing and wonderful it truly is. I worked a job where I was inside for most of the day, wearing a long sleeved business suit most of the time, and so a tan was something I only got on vacation or perhaps after a string of sunny weekends (a true rarity even in summer in the Pacific Northwest).

It is barely June and my arms are already tanned and I have a smattering of freckles across my face. In fact, I am even sporting a bit of a light sunburn, despite my SPF 50 application, because Will and I have hardly been in doors these past few weeks. We have been out and about, enjoying the wonderful weather and the fun outside activities it brings with it.

There have been so many firsts. . . first dip in a lake, first toes in the sand, first Memorial Day BBQ, first tree-planting, first slide, first time looking at tide pools. . . and I have pictures of it all to share. Silly memory stick.

I have a little almost-blond boy now. Everyone's first comment upon seeing him if they haven't for a little while is, "Look how light his hair his." With his cleft chin, cornflower blue eyes, and constant smile, I have to say, he is quite the little charmer (I am hardly biased, right?). Despite my ever constant applying of SPF 50 to him, plus hat, plus protective swimwear, Will is also sporting a little tan, too. It looks really good with that blond hair, blue-eyed look.

He is such a happy boy. And I am such a happy Mommy. I am still sad when I think about losing another baby, but that aside, I am the happiest I have been for a very, very long time. Being a parent isn't easy, but it can be such fun. The newborn days are but a distant memory and the terrible twos are in the hazy horizon. He is sleeping, eating, laughing, playing, and capturing my heart more and more each day.