Firsts and Lasts

Our last baby is having his first birthday party in a few weeks! Just a small family get together - but fun and exciting with cake smashing of course! Evan is teetering on the brink of those first steps right now. He can stand for several seconds and is cruising around . . . I have to say, I was expecting steps a few months ago with the way this boy moves and how quickly he was busting out physical milestones, but I can say with 100% certainty, he will walk before 1 - so about a month earlier than his sisters.

In the tooth department he currently has 2 top and 2 bottom with 2 more top busting through. So he will have 6 on his first birthday - right in between Sam's 2 and Marlie's 10-12 :)

I gave him his first taste of whole milk today and he is a huge fan - did you think he wouldn't be?! So we're doing half and half for the next week until we run through the rest of the formula. I am thinking his last bottle will be at the end of the formula - he only gets one at bedtime, and I know from experience, I am the one that has the problem letting it go, not the baby!

On the pacifier front, he only uses one at nap and bedtime. I'm not in any huge rush to take it away since it's just in his crib - he hasn't had one out and about since February when we went to the circus without one and figured he didn't need it.

I am waiting, not very well, to flip him around. He's getting taller and I am sooooo over putting him in a pink carseat! ha! Plus he likes to have a sippy cup sometimes in the car, and I would feel better being able to see him while this is going on. And go ahead and call the parenting police but I'm not keeping him rear facing. He is almost 26lbs, so well over the weight limit - and besides, have you ever ridden in a car backwards? We used to in our station wagon - you can only do it so long before getting car sick - and given that our other 2 children developed car sickness issues at a young age, I'm not going to add to it. He has a very nice black Nautilus waiting for him . . . possibly this week :)

It seems like being 1 year old ends so many things about being a little baby. Of course, all of these things are our choice based on what we think is best for our kiddos - obviously there are kids that have bottles, pacis, and stay rear facing until they are 3 - it's just not how we choose to do it. My Mom would tell me that I'm rushing things or that I shouldn't be so much in a hurry for him not to be a baby. But the truth is, Evan rushed things! haha He's the one that's gotten so big so fast - and let's be honest, his size alone shows that he's not a baby and is ready for toddlerhood!

There is a small part of me that is sad to see a lot of the babyness end . . . but it is a small part that is greatly outweighed by the part of me that is just done with infancy. The last 7 years of my life have been about having babies and taking care of babies - and I am excited for the next chapter that doesn't involve a "when should we get pregnant next" or another pregnancy. For me, my 20s were having babies, my 30s are going to be raising little kids, my 40s will be the teenage years (I might actually have to consider prayer), and my 50s will be freedom that I will be sad to have at that point because my kids will be adults. So Evan turning 1 is the gateway to the next phase . . . and that's awesome, not sad . . . but let's not get too excited, I mean, we still have another year of diapers . . . :)