Happy 1st Birthday Baby Bear

Yesterday we wished a very happy 1st birthday to my beautiful Baby Bear. I wrote this post for him to look back on when he is all grown up!

Dear Baby Bear,

I cannot believe you are one year old already! How was it a year ago that Aunty Kerry and I watched you enter the world? A year ago that Daddy fell so madly in love with you, that he cried when he saw you. In the last year, you have been to so many places, learnt so many things and really grown into quite a character. You were page boy at Mummy and Daddy’s wedding and the cutest page boy that I have ever seen. Basically… you stole the show! I’m sure more of our wedding video is of you, than it is of us!

I’m so proud that we conquered breastfeeding and are still going strong with it one year on. I never managed to achieve this with your sisters and it was not without obstacles in the beginning. You have grown so fast and your smile can melt a thousand hearts. You start every day with a smile and you finish every day with smiles. You giggle lots too and you are super active.

Lately, you’ve enjoyed practicing your walking, holding Mummy and Daddy’s hands, and we don’t think you are far off of walking unaided. You’ve done the odd step here and there. Yesterday, to mark your first birthday, we bought you a trike. We know you loved the one you tested out in Toysrus, so we bought you that and we’ve taken you out in it three times already. Actually, you love your new wheels so much, that you didn’t want to get out of it when we got home!

You have incredible fine motor skills and use such dainty fingers when you pick little things up – like peas on your plate. You are such a relaxed and easy going baby and I’m very lucky that you have slept right through the night since the night you were born. You love a solid 12 hours at night and a couple of naps during the day. You’re not really a crybaby, as you always seem to be calm and content, but you do tend to squawk like a seagull (and then laugh), if Mummy or Daddy are trying to have a grown-up conversation.

In the mornings when you wake up, you don’t cry. You stand up, give a few happy shouts and wait for us to come and get you, with the most excited look on your face. You just can’t wait to see what a new day has in store for you. I really hope you carry that outlook throughout life and into adulthood, because it’s lovely to see.

Another thing which is lovely to see, is the bond you have with your siblings. Your sisters worship you and you adore them. I love watching you play together, clap together, high five each other, cuddle up together and burst into fits of giggles together. I am so very blessed to have four such loving children.

For when you are older, I thought I’d record some of your favourite things each year. So age 1, here are your current favourites…

Favourite food: Banana’s. You eat pretty much anything we give you, but bananas win hands down.

Favourite toy: A cuddly Harley Quinn and that noisy thing with the balls in that Aunty Sarah gave you. You love stealing your sisters Paw Patrol toys too, whenever you can get away with it.

Favourite outdoor activity: You LOVE the swings, but swimming comes a close second.

Favourite word: “Dadda”! You do also say “Mumma”, “Yeah” and “No” occasionally, but in general, it’s Dadda whose attention you love, and you can say it so clearly.

Favourite outfit… well you give us big grins for the clothes you like, and a blank face for the clothes you aren’t so keen on, and to be fair, we mostly buy the outfits that make you grin. But you hate socks and shoes and as soon as we put them on, you take them off again!

You are a cheeky chatty chappy and you fill me with so much love and pride, that I wonder if my heart might burst. We love you so much Baby Bear!