My #1 Man

Ashamedly, I'm a week late on this post, but given this kid's history he probably won't mind. I really think that the two weeks I went overdue with him felt much, much longer than the past 52 weeks I've spent with him! Every day I look at him and wonder where my little baby went. Trav and I are always telling him what a {bigger boy} he is. And now he's officially 1. Not that he could tell you. I worked and worked with him to hold up his pointer finger to show that he was one year old (my mom used to do that), but to no avail. He's certainly not a conformist. :) Thanks to his surrogate aunties, who helped me get my rear in gear, he actually got a little party. It even had a theme. Thanks to Real Madrid (the team responsible for hooking Trav), Collin celebrated his first birthday, soccer style.

Don't laugh at my cake. I was pretty proud of myself until I saw all these fancy batman themed/fondant created cakes on other blogs. I guess decorating just wasn't my calling in life.

Rach saved the day and helped me decorate the sugar cookies. We had contorted claws for hands by the time we were done. Trav also made homemade cookies and cream icecream that was to die for (keeping with the black and white theme).

Collin was in good company, playing with friends, until we dragged him away to put on his awesome hat...

He just loved it and wanted to wear it all night. Not! At least it was good for a picture.

Only Dad is left without the appropriate attire. And you call yourself a soccer fan. :)

Boy that flame sure was enticing.

He just kind of patted at the cake, until Trav took a chunk and fed it to him. Even then, he nibbled at best. Not the {dig in} feast we were hoping for.

Doesn't this face just look like he got caught doing something bad and is giving you the {I didn't do anything!} angel eyes?

If there's one thing he loves, it's to clap!

Thanks to our friend's the Shaws, Shaheen's, Marchants, Reheisses, and Carter's for coming! He got lots of fun presents and toys and some great clothes from Grandma Evan's. We opened her package the day before and she must have had some inspiration, because she had sent a soccer outfit! Just the perfect thing to wear to his party. And Grandma Sharon sent some moola and a card that said we could spend it on diapers, toys, or a night out at Duffs! :) Score!

Here's some pictures of our babers at 10 days. I started getting a wee bit baby hungry looking at all of them.

I couldn't get over his widdle chin in this one!

I feel like he's giving me {the look}. Like, I don't know why I'm here and not in your belly! I thought I made it clear that's where I wanted to stay!

Just thinkin.

He had his one month check up the following Monday and his stats are:

18 lbs. 15 oz.- 5th %

28 in.- 10th %

head circum. 50th %

Just a little guy. I try to fatten him up by smearing cream cheese on half his foods but he must have a speedy metabolism. I'm hoping that now that he gets to drink whole milk (and not my skim) that the rolls will come on. :) But the doctor says he's healthy so that's all the matters!

His habits seem to change often, but as of now, a few things about him are...

*He sleeps about 11hrs at night, from 8pm-7am

*He loves eating an Eggo with cream cheese smeared on it first thing in the morning (after nummers of course)

*He is a clown and loves to show off, giggle, and give big cheesy smiles if it means he'll get smiles back or lots of attention!

*He is literally into everything! He opens doors, cupboards, cell phones and loves to pull stuff out of where it belongs, onto the floor. He also loves climbing the stairs, but not so much falling down them. :)

*When he's tired, he'll crawl over to where I am and lay his head on any part of my body he can reach and nuzzle his face into me.

*He is just starting to get upset when one of us leaves the house and he'll crawl to the door and cry.

*He LOVES older kids and animals and will light up so big when he sees them.

*He wants to eat everything we are eating. Even if I've just fed him and he's stuffed, if we sit down with food, he'll screetch until and he gets bites. Likewise, if he refuses a food, but we start eating it, he'll usually start taking bites.

*He loves bananas, Eggos, Mandarin oranges, grapes, cheese puffs (the baby kind, not the Cheeto kind), and cheese.

*He is still sporting the Mohawk which is what he gets most of his {comments} from strangers on. Either that or his big eyes.

*He loves his pacifier! I'm in trouble. No idea how I'll wean him from that. Not a thumb sucker though.

*Much to Trav's dismay, he seems to prefer his {mommy}. Not really a fair advantage though when he spend the majority of his time with me!

*He has 4 teeth. The top two just came in a couple weeks ago, all spaced apart- and I am in love with them! But not when he grinds them with his bottom teeth!

*He holds onto one or both of his ears when he's tired or just thinking.

*His eyes are brown around the pupils, but then turn greenish/hazel around the edges.

I really feel so lucky that I get to be home with Mr. Towaga all day. When Trav and I decided it was time to start our family I really needed a lot of confirmation from Heavenly Father. Being a mom scared me to death. I didn't know if I was ready. One Sunday in church, while we were singing the opening song, out of no where, I had an overwhelming feeling that it was time to start having kids. Right after the song ended, Trav leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "Do you think it would be ok, if we started trying to have kids?" I was stunned. We had had the same prompting at the same time. I knew it was right, but I was still so scared! Shortly after that, I had another, even more poignant experience letting me know it was time. I couldn't deny it anymore. Just a couple months later I found out I was pregnant. And 10 months after that I wondered why I had waited so long to do this! Being a mom has been the most difficult and the most rewarding experience of my life so far. Nothing compares to your baby's smile. I love the faces he makes and all the noises. Last week we were out front enjoying the weather, and I watched him for at least five minutes, discover a rock for the first time. He inspected it, pounded it on the planter... tasted it. Then triumphantly held it out to me like he'd found the Fountain of Youth. It was adorable and I love that I was there to watch it. It's all the little things like that that remind me how lucky I am. I don't know what I would do without Travis and Collin. They give my life meaning. They keep me going. And they make me laugh. Even while I'm secretly freaking out inside. Take this video for example... (sorry it's sideways! I always forget it's not like a picture, it doesn't rotate.)

Happy Birthday sweet Collin! I love you!