At one year...

At one year, Sal....

-weighs 10.4 kilos (just shy of 23 lbs) and is 78.5cm tall.

- takes 5-6 staggering steps on his own.

-is a chatter box. He  says "dada", "ma'am aaa" (he only says my name when he is upset), " bah" for ball, "tuh" for truck, "ftbftbftb" for vroom, and lots of slithering "s" sounds.

-sleeps from 7:00p to 7:00a

- takes two naps. First one at 8:15 after dad leaves for work, and another after lunch, around 1:00. Naps usually last 1-2 hours, or until our ayi arrives. I swear he has a 6th sense for her arrival.

- busts some serious dance moves.  "Whistle" by FloRida is still his favorite, although he made his mama proud breaking it down to Nelly's " Where The Party At" which took me back in time to Friday nights at the Grad.

-claps his hands together.

-nods his head "yes". We call it the "head bop". It's super cute.

- can climb up onto the couch, and back down. Over and over and over again.

- loves "Go Dog, Go!" and " The Little Blue Truck". He will sit and turn the pages by himself.

- wears 12 month clothing and a size 5 shoe.

- loves filet mignon. Pricey taste, that kid of ours. Thankfully, he also loves IKEA Swedish meatballs which are easier on the pocket book. His favorite veggie is green beans. Haaaaates peas. Haaates them. But loves all fruit, grilled cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs and yogurt. Loves jiaozi, refried beans and frozen blueberries. He's a pretty good eater.

- his favorite place to hide is in our closet. Preferably in dad's pile of shoes.

- favorite toys and pastimes--- pulling toilet paper off the rolls, finding every cord and light socket in the house, rolling suitcases across the pantry, and sucking on stroller wheels. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. I spend 75% of my waking hours trying to police the above formentioned "toys" and re-direct to something more appropriate. His favorite appropriate toys include stacking cups, cardboard books, demolishing wooden block towers, rolling a ball back and forth with mama or dad, pushing cars around the house and most recently, climbing on the couch and playing peek-a-boo under a blanket.

-speaking of blankets, Sal has a favorite. He sleeps with it every night, grasping it tightly.

- loves being around other kids. He has a buddy here that we do things with on an almost daily basis, and he loves to follow his big buddy around and tries to imitate him. I love watching him interact with other kids and learn from them. It's quite a special little relationship these two boys have built. They even have their own screeching language with one another.

I could go on and on about all the little things he does that just continue to amaze us, but the list above is the Cliffs notes version of just how wonderful it has been to watch him come into his own. I've felt a mix of emotions about him turning one this past week. For so long I waited for a child...and now it's hard for me to believe he has already been in our arms a year.

Grateful: Day 13: Born on the 13th

Lucky 13

Everyday Today I am grateful for the luckiest Friday the 13th, ever. I've never been really superstitious, but I know many people are..from skipping 13th floors on buildings, to not scheduling procedures ( I had a few patients who refused to let me schedule their surgery on Friday the 13th--I was like, reaaaaally?) to just plain thinking bad things happen when the number13 is involved.

Speaking for myself, Friday the 13th's have always been good. I can recall first feeling this way as my childhood idol, Kim Zmeskal, took home the all around gold from the 1991 World Championships, on you guessed it, Friday the 13th..and I was there. In person. And it was...wait for it...

1991 World AA Champion, Kim Zmeskal
Friday, September 13, 1991

AWESOME.

So, ever since then, I look forward to Friday the 13th, and pretty much anything to do with the number 13. I guess you could say it's my lucky number.

Last January, I went in on to my OB as my due date was looming. I had two weeks to go. I was nervous as could be. I swore Sal hadn't been as active, and I was having nightly nightmares that he would meet the same demise as our babies that came before him. I was certain that something would go wrong. Because, we were unlucky when it came to babies.

My OB offered to consider an induction. He was an estimated 7 lbs, and I was starting to show signs of labor, so she spoke to her colleagues and due to my history of recurrent loss, my previous uterine surgery and his size, they agreed to schedule an induction.

For...

Friday, the 13th.

And I just knew that this was meant to be. Things HAD to turn out well.

And did they ever.

I am so very thankful for this little boy. Even on the rough days. Even on the days he  pushes all the chairs around the house and re-programs the chinese only remotes TV. Even on the days he spits up all over my favorite shirt. Even on the just-wants-to-be-held-all-day-and-mama-why-aren't-you-stronger-so-you-can-hold-me-all-day, days.

Hard to believe he was ever this small

We waited what seemed an eternity for his arrival into our lives. Four years of trying, waiting, hoping, losing, and trying again. He is the light of our lives, and I am ever so thankful for this gift I was given just 10 short months ago.

Grateful: day 1: SAHM

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and going to do my best to do a "grateful" post every day in November. Most years I probably wouldn't have the time to sit down daily and write a blog post...which leads me to  the first thing I'm grateful for...

At the Park

I am grateful that we have the means necessary to allow for me to be a stay at home mom. All my life growing up, if asked what I wanted to be, my answer was "a mom". I wanted to be just like my mom. I wanted to grow up, have a husband and children, and be able to take care of them. I wanted to send my husband off to work in the morning after a home cooked breakfast, and then spend the mornings going on walks to the park, reading books to my kids, and keeping our home tidy. Then in the evenings, when my husband would get home, I'd cook supper and we would all eat together, give the kids a bath, then curl up on the couch watching tv together after the kids were asleep.

And guess what?

I finally have the life that I've dreamed of.

my little Nacho Libre and me on playgroup day

And nobody knows better than I do, that this life that I've got right now is not owed to me. It could change at any given moment, and this is why I wake up every single day, grateful for the opportunity to be a wife and a mother if just for one more day.