A (short) look back through the year.

Our first doctor's visit and ultrasound confirmed that there was indeed a baby inside! I hope we never forget how it felt to see this picture for the first time.

Then, just days later, we saw our "dragon" again. Ru zoomed in here so you could see just how dragon-like he looked.

Then, the anticipated 18 week shot. I remember repeating over and over to the baby, how proud I was at how he'd grown! Kind of silly... what else was he supposed to do? :)

Then, the unexpected news of our induction at 37 weeks.

11 hours after the first drip of Pitocin was used... Kyle was safely in our arms!!

And he grew and grew, delighting us with EVERY little thing he did! (Well, almost everything!)

And this post ends Kyle's book of posts from just after conception to his first birthday. I've copied and pasted each post along with pictures and comments and I hope he'll someday enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it and will continue to enjoy reading through it. Now the question is, when will I give it to him? Any ideas?

Above all, I want Kyle to have a written record of how much he was loved, how much joy he brought to our lives, and all the random details we'd most likely forget by the time he cared enough to ask!

Kyle at 12 months

Mr. Kyle had his 12 month dr.'s check up appt. today. We've been to the dr.'s 3 times in the last 2 weeks, so there weren't any surprises today. Kyle is still below the 0% mark and we've been to a specialist and have an appointment with an OT to try and get him eating better. Most of the time he flat out refuses to eat anything except yogurt and when I try to sneak something nutritious in it, he refuses even that. I've been able to offer him more choices now that we've tested for allergies and come up negative. So far, he's not having much of anything but me. So, needless to say, weaning him is not exactly an option. We keep trying, I keep cooking random things and he keeps spitting it all out! (sigh) The poor little guy has had so many blood tests and is now quite familiar with the lab, that he starts crying on sight now. :( It's hard to hold him down so many times when he doesn't understand what's going on. Poor Shmu.

On a much more positive note, Kyle finally decided he'd like to sleep through the night! Sometime during the week before his birthday, he started sleeping 8 hours. Then, this past week he'd go 9 to 10 to 11 and finally, TWELVE hours! :) He goes down anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 without a peep and we don't hear from him until the morning! HAHA!!!! Now, this has been happening for over a week, so I hope I won't be jinxing myself by writing this. Seems like the last time I did, he read the blog and decided to be a stinker just to prove who's boss. I had a friend tell me back when Kyle was 5 months old that it'd probably happen when he turned one. I was beside myself thinking that I'd be sleep deprived for another 7 months!!! Somehow we made it, and like my friend said... there was no rhyme or reason to it. He just decided one day he'd sleep. I'll take it without question, but I would like to request that #2 be a sleeper!?!?

In other 12 month news, we're absolutely loving Kyle's ever emerging personality. He's so playful and knows he's silly. He does things on purpose to get a smile or laugh from us and grins at himself. He's got such a sense of humor and really "gets" others' humor as well. Lately, he has been all smiles and baby talk. He's still constantly moving, but he's been more and more affectionate as well. I do get a few seconds of cuddle time when he wakes up from a nap and both Ru and I get lots of Kyle love in the morning when I bring him in bed with us. He puts his head down on Ru for a few seconds and then switches to lay on me. Then he goes back to Ru and back to me, over and over.

Here are some things we want to remember about our son's 12th month...

Stats:

Weight - 16lbs 6 oz

Height - 29 in

Favorites:

• Mommy (this is nice and sometimes not so nice!)
• Walking around and around the house while carrying things
• opening and closing doors over and over again
• the park (climbing and sliding)
• water
• playing games with us (peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, hide-n-seek, etc.)
• pulling things out one by one and tossing them over his head or flinging them out of the way
• anything electronic
• dogs
• books

The latest:

• talking and smiling nonstop with people he knows and is comfortable with
• walking so fast and so well, he's just about running!
• sleeping SO WELL! Hooray!!
• seeing specialists for weight gain concerns
• dancing to music

Happy 12 months, Kyle! SO glad you've decided to sleep!!

Kyle and family

Kyle has discovered how to open and close many things. Besides regular doors (which are his favorite), he loves the dishwasher.

So proud!!

Playing with the new Tonka truck Daddy bought him for his birthday!

Besides learning how to dump, Kyle is pushing the truck everywhere while he makes engine noises with his mouth.

Shopping... a Kyle favorite! ;)

The morning routine... Kyle hears the water and climbs out of my arms and scales up the shower door to get a glimpse of Daddy and the water! I hold him here for as long as I can, which is never long enough. Soon, Ru is out and Shmu clings to his legs as he gets ready. We walk Dad out to his truck and K gets to spend a few moments in it with him before Ru heads off to work. It's so cute to watch how much he loves his Dad.

And like the morning, the end of the day routine involves Ru's truck, again. It's hard to get Kyle out!

Happy 1 Year, Kyle!!

Our baby turned ONE today!!!! It was such a special day. For starters, we had GG and Uncle Randy staying with us, so they got to help us begin the celebrations with presents in the morning. Then we were off to set up for the party at a nearby park. I had tried to keep it as simple as possible so that we could all enjoy the day. In honor of Kyle's favorite Mr. Fish, we threw a "Fish Party" where everything possible was fish related. Our centerpieces were cute little fish bowls with colorful fishy crackers and some with Swedish fish candy. We served tuna (fish) sandwiches and PB&J for the kids and vegetarians. Then, we had fish sugar cookies and cake along with a pack of "Go Fish" cards for party favors. And although it was still a lot of work, it was pretty enjoyable! Still, I am amazed at how much help we needed to get things all set up. It took every one of us, including my parents, GG, Uncle Randy and two amazing friends of mine, to get things all ready. The only damper to the party was that Shmu is teething and we could all tell that he was in a lot of pain. :( However, we had a great party and we're thankful for our wonderful family and friends who helped us celebrate Kyle's day!

After the party, we enjoyed watching Kyle play with his new toys, recuperated with some Starbucks (thanks, Dad!) and went on a family bike ride around the Back Bay. Before we left, however, we finally removed a sign Gina had put up on our door to welcome Baby Shmu home from the hospital. Yes, it's been up on our door all year long. We just LOVED that day so much and didn't ever take it down. We figured though, that it was finally time. It was an emotional moment for me, as I remembered all the emotions of the day we brought our son home for the very first time. It's amazing that we're already a whole year away from that unforgettable day!

Notice Kyle's fish shirt from GG. It was perfect!! :)

A pinata for some of the older kids.

Kyle really didn't know what to make of his cake. He was pretty miserable at this point. :(

But he sure liked his presents!! ;)

Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy birthday, KYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worth the effort!

It's been some time since we've had a Saturday together as a family, doing something fun. The last two Saturdays, we were traveling all day to and from Oregon. Saturdays before that were spent on Grandma Hahn business, and before that, Rudy was in school and needing to study. So finally, we had a fun, lazy family day. We decided that after Kyle got up from his nap we'd head to the beach so Ru could surf and Shmu and I could play in the water. We forgot that everybody else in southern California wants to go to the beach on a 90+ degree weekend day, too. So after about an hour of searching all our "secret" spots for parking and coming up empty, we were just about to turn the car around and head home. This is saying a lot, if you know how determined Rudy is. Fortunately, a spot opened up right as we were leaving and we got to make a fun memory.

It is more and more fun to take Kyle to the beach. This time, we packed light and that made it so much easier. K-man was so cute as he watched Ru head out into the surf. I could tell, were it not for the cold water, he'd be trying to head out with him.

I'd hide Mr. Fish over and over again...
...and Shmu would be so proud of himself for "finding" him! :)


Oops!
Daddy got in on the game, too.


My baby is almost ONE! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!