Baby D is ONE!

4:29 PM


One of the events of my life recently has been the anniversary of Dorien's birth. The first anniversary. 
I don't know why, but I find it particularly difficult to believe that a full 12 months have passed since the wonderful day of his birth.  My beautiful smiling boy! So big!!!


I have loved every moment of his life. From the moment I found out I was pregnant, right on the heels of a miscarriage, through each and every day I puked during that first trimester, even through the yucky pounds I gained while he grew inside my body. Which, praise the Lord, have been shed.


His pregnancy was extra special since I saw a midwife throughout instead of an obstetrician, and I enjoyed a completely unique, very thorough, holistic peaceful type of attention completely unlike my previous experiences, no matter how great my ob's were. This was far better.


And there is no way to describe the sheer bliss of birthing this little man in the solitude and peace of my own home, in my own bedroom, on my own bed with no one around but Kyle, Holly and Mary (my two midwives). 


Starting out at 9 lbs, 1 oz, he has done nothing but improve on that in both direction and magnitude....he is our very own little VECTOR!!!! Oh yeah!! 


Still a Momma's boy, wholly my barnacle and yet...reaching out to explore ever more and more this fascinating world around him. Which includes such marvelous discoveries as....mechanical pencils...refrigerator magnets that fling delectably to the floor with a smattering of clatters...Mommy's pots and pans cabinets with the lovely oranges and blues and oh-so-heavy lids that hurt my toes when they slip out!...


He is very into his siblings, unless they make him mad by taking something he wanted which is usually whatever they are holding. Vicious cycle. He loves going to the gym and playing with Ms. Deserae, the childcare worker, our friend and babysitter. She aptly calls him her marshmallow. And he appears to take no offense at this.


In a manner typical to my babies, he skipped baby food entirely and is subsisting on a diet of breastmilk and little bits of whatever Mommy is eating. And we can see he is not withering away.


He is the best hugger ever. Well, maybe I should amend that. All my kids are fantastic, full body, melt-into-you huggers. But there is something about his marshmallow-ness that is particularly succulent when draped over your shoulder, his chubby arms squeezing tightly around your neck. Man, this baby can hug. 


As an Attachment-style parent, he still sleeps with me and nurses on and off all night, preferring to sleep on my left side, one leg draped over me or just completely on top of me.


He is a talker. Boy-howdy. He's eloquent. Momma and Dada roll off his tongue, and he has such a wide array of other "word" sounds that melt my heart when he jabbers endlessly away, pointing, raising his eyebrows and  showing all manner of enthusiastic wiggles. He is saying, "ohhhhhh" in the picture above. I think he almost said Brooklyn the other day and I'm pretty sure I got him to say "basket". And he is learning where his nose and other facial elements are. And thinks they are truly hilarious.


He loves books. In the words of our favorite e-book (The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore), "Dorien Valor loved words, loved books, loved reading..." If there is reading to be had, he is there in the thick of it, crawling into a lap, pushing away anyone and anything in his path. And when he applies force, things move. (tiny little physics lesson for you...)


He looks like a great blend between August and Brooklyn and is wholly himself. He shares their enormous brown eyes and sweet, fun personalities. He is a delight to me. He loves dogs and cats and all manner of animals and, as is pretty typical, hates to be told "No." I'm not sure of his current height or weight, but when I find out in a few weeks, I'll share those stats with you.  

In short, he is all a little boy should be. 

I would also like to mark today as special because while he has been practicing his walking skills for several weeks now, taking a few steps here and there, but always dropping back down to his insanely speedy crawl...I am marking down in his baby book (whenever I get to updating it) that March 10th, 2012 is the day he started truly walking.

He has walked more than he's crawled today. And while it saddens me, I am glad he waited for his first birthday to pass before doing so. There were moments when I wondered. 

So, Happy Birthday, Dorien Valor. What a wonderful 366 days it has been! 

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