bittersweet symphony: brady

Dear Brady -

No. no. no. You are not allowed to turn one year old. You just can't. Please stay my chubby baby for a little while longer.

(Oh if they did stay little for just a bit longer. Where did this year go? Seriously it just seems like yesterday we were riding on Thomas the Train while I was having labor pains. And now here we are 11 months, 17 days later.)

Brady you are a total joy to behold. You are such a happy, vocal baby. You make silly faces. You love your big brother like crazy - you have a special smile and laugh just for him. I never thought I would have a blue-eyed baby. And you really have 2 different blues but it's such a slight difference only a mama would notice. You are a sweet little one. You win over family, friends and strangers with your little smile and clapping hands. Some days there is a bit of red in it. You still aren't sleeping through the night every night. But that's okay. I have come to terms with it. And you are my baby so I will take all the snuggles I can get even if they are at 2:00am. You have 4 teeth on top and only 3 on the bottom. And by the way you are drooling and chewing you would think you have a molar coming in. You are in size 5 diapers it's probably time to go a size bigger. You are wearing 18-24 mo clothing. Size 4 1/2 wide shoes. I bought you a pair of sandals for your first walkers but you are much happier barefoot or in socks. You are a chunky baby with lots of wrinkles & cheeks that need to be kissed, tickled and bit on occasion. You have soft silky baby skin and laugh when i lightly run my finger on your cheeks when we rock. You pretty much laugh at everything. And you can't keep your hands off the Gene Simmons during bathtime.

No one can be sad around you -it's not allowed - you are a bright ray of sunshine. And after each bath your hair blonder - and sometimes there is a hint of red too. You have given up the army crawl & rolling and now are a full time on your knees crawling kind of guy. You pull up on anything that will stand still long enough. You are crusing on all surfaces. You love to play cars with your big brother. Yes you really play - you push the car back and forth and I swear you are making car noises. You say mama, dada, dog, and we think riley. You have the funny backhanded wave when you say goodbye. When we hold you and hug you, you pat us on the shoulders. You still point with that middle finger. You love to drink water out of any and all cups - you don't like baby juice. You would rather bang the spoon on the highchair then to use it to eat. We find you standing in your crib after naptime in the corner. Just waiting to be retrieved.

Soon you will be walking and talking. but please stay my baby for a little bit longer (okay you have 3 days to be a baby). You complete our little family and I can't imagine life without you. I love you to the moon and back my dear sweet brady edward. Never forget.

love,

mama