Happy Birthday, Auden!

Our little boy is officially one year old today! It's hard to believe how quickly it has gone. But just to help it sink in, I looked through our archived photos last night. Yes, he's gone from that sleepy, cuddly, helpless little baby to an active, mischievous, walking toddler. As far as the walking goes, for the past two days, he's made great strides--literally--after regressing a bit. He was on two feet, albeit wobbly, for the majority of the day, so I think the walking thing is going to stick this time. Not only is he walking, he's also climbing. Stairs, chairs, whatever he can pull up on. And when you take him away from the object he's climbing for safety's sake, he wants to climb it all the more. The little rascal will go for it again, smiling at you the whole time. He's becoming quite the daredevil, and it shows.

He has a wonderful little bruise on the corner of his eye. He's been really crazily moody lately, I think thanks to his molars that are making their way through. I went to take him out of his crib the other day. He was crying and refusing to nap, and as I was walking past his door, he threw his head back suddenly, and he caught the corner of the door. A little bluish line started to develop immediately after he hit it. Though I tried to force some ice on it, he was in hysterics, so I gave up and resigned myself to the fact that he would have a shiner for his first birthday. Actually, it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. It's kind of like smoky eyeshadow or something. On one eye.

Tonight, Auden tried to keep up with Logan as he ran laps around the basement floor. While he couldn't quite keep up with big brother, he had fun trying. Such laughter. And Logan's commentary of his running was another source of laughter. He was pumping his arms as he ran, and he shouted out something silly every time he passed by me: "See, mom. This is how I make my body strroonng! I'm really workin' my body! I'm getting lots of exercise! I'm a good runner, just like daddy. I just ran out of batteries." (That's when he stopped for two seconds or so to rest.)

This is my last week home with the boys and I am soooo in denial about going back to work full time. I'm telling myself that I'm just living in the moment, making the most of the time I have left with them as a stay-at-home-mom, but who am I kidding? Whatever I'm doing, it sure as heck isn't preparing for the first day of school like I used to. Yet, strangely, I feel ready for it. We'll see how I am next week. I'll probably be sweating, stomach in knots. But maybe not.

We're getting ready for Auden's party this weekend, and I'm working like crazy to keep the house clean. I feel a little like Sisyphus in that department. So I've decided to stop stressing about it so much. We picked a very easy menu for lunch and ordered cupcakes from Sweet Dreams (I get happy just thinking about them). So I have no reason to stress about it. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.