Updates on Balian

It is absolutely amazing how fast children grow. I mean, did I seriously push this tiny thing out a year ago? It feels like so much longer than that. So here is an update on what my now one year old baby boy has been up to and doing.

His new favorite word is "thank you". He says it for everything. If he hands you something, he says "thank you". Playing with the dog, he says "thank you". Talking to his daddy, he says "thank you". If he drops something, he says "thank you". He can also say "clock", "daddy", "mama", has attempted to say "alligator", bye bye", and "dog/doggy". He's pretty much an expert and blowing raspberries and loves to imitate the dog growls. Scotty brought a toy into the living room to play one day and Balian decided he wanted it, so he tried to grab it out of Scotty's mouth. When Scotty wouldn't let go, Balian leaned in close and started growling at him. I think I laughed until I peed, no lie!

Balian can climb up the stairs, down one or two steps, climb onto the couch and chairs, can almost climb out of his playpen, crawls, can stand on his own, it's just getting him to do it that's the issue. One of his new favorite activities is to grab your hands and drag you to wherever he's wanting to go. It's the only way he'll walk, but he loves it. He'll take you on a tour of the house if you'd let him.

Balian can also blow kisses, make the kissy noise, squish his face, do the "this big", swipe my debit card and type my pin onto the pin pad. And if you think I'm lying about that last part, ask the lady at the Post Office.

Balian is, above all else, hyper. This kid goes non stop daily, chasing after shadows, getting into my cabinets, playing with pots and pans. One of his new favorite activities is getting Scotty's dog food and throwing it around to make Scotty chase after it and eat it. If Scotty decides he doesn't want to eat anymore, Balian will chase him down and, almost literally, shove the food down his throat. I have to watch him, though, because he's picked up the habit of actually eating the dog food.

He is now forward facing and enjoys it. He loves it when I reach back and play with his feet and he likes being able to see everything. He is very nosy... I wouldn't know where he got that from...

And that's one year old Balian in a nut shell. He loves to read, play, and flirt. He's mommy's little devil disguised as an angel and daddy's little buddy. He is just 100% himself.

Reflections on a One Year Old

In about three and a half hours, it will no longer be a first birthday. Today has been full of... Alot. I woke up late, the house was not clean, and I had some of my in-laws arriving to help at 10:30, per my request. So I'm rushing around, cleaning up from dinner, throwing laundry into a basket to put it upstairs, taking the dog out so he is fit to spend the rest of the afternoon in my room. Got Balian dressed, Nana and Gramps arrived and helped placate Balian. A friend of mine arrived shortly after to help me start decorating. As soon as we got started, I had to leave to pick up the cake, get a veggie plate for snacks, and pick up a few foil balloons to add to the decorations. I'm in freak out mode by this time. I get back, we blow up a God awful amount of balloons, hang streamers, set out food, and guests begin to arrive. John gets on Skype and is immediately overrun by relatives who've not seen him since January. We eat, then open presents, then dig into the cupcakes. Balian was getting fussy, until he got that cupcake. He didn't make a huge mess with it, at least, not anywhere that wasn't on him. So upstairs to give him a bath, attempting to avoid more inlaws, late arrival guest show up, still trying to be in hostess mode and keep track of my child, who, by now, is running around naked in his bedroom. Finally, people start leaving, and soon, it's only four of us. My night becomes calmer, and I start to ease up a bit. We go out to eat then part ways. Clean up is almost finished, and Balian is entertaining himself by pulling lint from in between the couch cushions, putting it in a different spot, then pulling it back out and putting it back to where it originally was. Repeat x100.



I have decided that first birthday parties are not for the child who is turning one. It's mainly for the parents. It's a celebration of, "We're good parents! He made it through his first year! We didn't kill him/disown him/committ suicide!" It's also a bit of a show off. In the back of your mind, you're thinking of a particular first birthday party that you've seen or been to that you're trying to outdo. It's not always a conscious effort, but it's there. Being a parent is anything but peaceful. If it is, get your child off the meds. There are peaceful moments, but it's more stress than anything. A happy stress, but stress none the less.

Right now I'm watching Balian put a little figure into a car. He's a year old. How does he know to do that? This kid is amazingly brilliant. He can blow kisses, say thank you, mama, dada, dog, kitty, gramps, and clock. And he's said alligator twice before. I must be doing something right, right?

My advice to mom's approaching the one year mark.
1. Don't throw the party at your house. It's a lot less stressful to do it at a park or someone else's house even.
2. Kroger makes amazing cakes. End of story.
3. Do healthy alternatives, like a veggie plate, or a meat and cracker plate, other than pizza and chips. Seriously. You're eating cake. Try to balance it out.
4. Make sure that something is under the high chair to catch the mess. Preferable something large and plastic so you can just throw it away. And keep them away from walls.
5. Helium balloons make a different pop sound than regular, carbon dioxide filled balloons. And it has a tendency to scare children.
6. Order a cake and order food. Don't make them yourself. Cut out the unneeded stress. Money is not important. Your happiness is.
7. Have one person holding the camcorder, another doing the camera. Don't attempt to do them both yourself. It doesn't work.
8. If you're holding the party at your house, put anything valuable in your room, then lock the door. Something always, invariable, goes missing, either by accident or on purpose.
9. Let your child eat the piece with the most icing.
10. Have fun. Remember, you're celebrating a year. These little lives go by so quickly. You can redo almsot any event in your life (like your wedding) but your child will only turn a year old once. Give yourself a pat on the back, and celebrate making it this far.

Now, pour yourself a drink, and prepare for the next 17 years.