One week old
One year ago we had no idea that...
~ You, sweet little Jack, would capture every single heart in this family the very second you entered the world.
~ We really didn't need to put much thought into a name for you. You've been "Booba" since you were 2 hours old and I think you think it's your given name.
~ Your siblings wouldn't be able to get enough of you. Ever.
~ You would sleep in our room longer than any of the other kids ever did as babies. Partly because I couldn't figure out where to put you in the midst of this crazy house and partly because we just liked having you there.
~ You would give us your first smiles pretty early on (around 3 weeks), much to the delight of the whole family.
~ Your big, beautiful blue eyes would smile right along with your mouth.
Four months old
~ You would start "low crawling" at around 6 months and maintain that as your preferred mode of movement until just recently, even though you were perfectly able to crawl on all fours all along. Daddy thinks it has something to do with the little bit of Marine in you.
~ For a long time, as soon as you were turned loose to explore, you would head straight for the foyer table where bookends of Homer and Aristotle live on the bottom shelf. You would pull them both face-down on the floor and then "leave them there to die", as Travis would say. You became knows as Booba the Assassinator .
~ You would bury your sweet face into the right side of Daddy's and my neck and suck your thumb every time we hold you. You've done this forever. We adore it.
~ You wrap your left arm completely around my right one when I hold you and pinch the inside of my arm. Always. And it hurts like crazy and cracks me up at the same time.
Eight months old
~ You would always hate diaper changes.
~ You would take your legs and wrap them around our arms from the outside and then use your feet to get our arms out of the way so that you could squirm away from the torture of being changed. It made us crazy, especially when you were poopy.
~ You would stop doing it and then we would miss it. (kind of)
~ You would be an amazing sleeper from about 8 weeks old. You would sleep for 10 or 11 hours at a time and I would often have to wake you in the mornings. I only know that this is true because I remember telling people about it.
Nine months old
~ You would not be the most gentle teether ever. Getting your first teeth pretty much wrecked your great sleeping habits and we would wait a long time to recover them.
~That you would be so sweet and snuggly in the middle of the night that it would be hard to care that we were missing sleep.
~ You would point your finger and grunt. Often. We're not sure what it means but we love that you do it.
~ You would have wild, light blond hair with little curls in the back.
Ten months old
~ You would love to be left alone to explore.
~ Everything you touch would go right into your mouth.
~ That would make you an awesome eater. You've devoured everything we've ever put in front of you, even the few things that wound up making you break out into hives after eating (eggs, yogurt and an accidental cashew that you discovered on the floor).
~ That you would be our most adventurous climber so far. You've been very adept at going up -and down!- the stairs for a while now.
Twelve months old
But what we really didn't know was how much joy and delight you would bring into our family. Little Boo, you are a heart-melting, smile-inducing boy and you couldn't possibly love you any more. We are so grateful that God chose our family for you and look forward, in a bittersweet way, to watching you leave your baby days behind. You've got a lot of people to keep up with and they are ready for you to join them! Happy first birthday, precious Jack. You are loved and adored!