One Year Old!

Dear Chase -

It is hard to believe that it's been a whole year since I stood next to a hospital bed push, push, pushing you out of my body. Though you were small and slippery, it wasn't an easy task, and I was very tired when you finally arrived. But oh! what a thrill it was to finally see your face! You looked at me with such amazement and wonder, and I'm sure I looked back the same. It seems the three of us - you, me, and Daddy - couldn't take our eyes off each other for days after you joined our family. Your little fingers curled around Daddy's big one; your tiny mouth latched onto my giant-seeming breast. We both thrilled to hold you skin to skin, feel your breath, feel your heart.

You have grown so much since then, and not just in size. You can do so many things now that I had a hard time picturing you accomplishing back then - you can crawl like a speed demon, babble like your Grandma Lonnie, and hit the high notes of an opera diva. Though you only have 6 teeth, you like to munch on whole apples, love carrots, potatoes, and green beans, and have start "demanding" that you eat exactly what Daddy and I do.

Every day now it seems you do something you couldn't or didn't do the day before. This week, you have started "offering" us items (or are you merely showing them to us?) - holding them out in your hand, putting them into our hands, then taking them back. One day soon, you will walk. You will utter your first words. You will draw, drum, and continue to delight us just by being you.

We love you with all of our hearts, Chaser. Like we never thought possible.

Love, Mama and Daddy

Chase at one week:

Chase at (almost) one year: