Dax's Journal

Happy, happy birthday baby!

Darling Dax,

Today is your birthday and I have spent it reminiscing about exactly what was happening at each moment of the day one year ago. I even announced to you at 6AM, "This time last year, mommy got out of bed and her water broke!" I can do this now because you are too little to squeal, "Ewwwwwww!" while running away from me.

Since you have no idea what a birthday is, let me explain. A birthday is a very special day on which everyone who loves you celebrates the day that you were born. You've already celebrated like a champ and experienced being completely spoiled silly with oodles of gifts.

At the ripe old age of one you have already done so many things. You've flow on an airplane. You can walk very well and you can even run a little bit. You can say "mama" and "dada" and "uh-oh" and "no". You have two teeth. You've nearly tripled your weight. If this were your end-of-year performance evaluation I'd say that you'd exceeded expectations.

You've become such a loving little boy. You are generous with your hugs and kisses. You smile and laugh often. You're a bit mischievous and extremely stubborn but you are almost always happy and well behaved. You have learned about humor and you know how to make your daddy and I laugh great, loud belly laughs.

You love books and your current favorites are "The Alphabet Book" as read by daddy and "The Monster at the End of This Book" as read by mommy. Your favorite toys include your soft brown bear, Murdock the Croc, your new hippo chair, and your shape-sorting bucket. You are also very fond of playing with things that you shouldn't. Things like mommy's laptop, the remote controls, the water dispenser, and the very expensive ionizer you keep knocking to the ground despite our constant pleas to not do so.

You're too little to understand what a fantastic day this is. And even as you grow older you will think this day is fantastic for entirely different reasons. For me this day is about celebrating the moment that my life suddenly became so full and happy that it is beyond my comprehension.

Happy birthday my beautiful boy.

Love you so,
Mommy

Pre-birthday party

We had a little party for Dax yesterday. An early first birthday shindig. We had a fantastic time and mommy is going to be writing a ton of thank you cards for all the fabulous loot he was given.

Here's a picture of him "helping" us prepare for the party.

Caren made him the cutest cake. She modeled it after Julius the monkey. It was so cute that I didn't want to cut into it. Thank goodness for cameras because it was too delicious not to eat.

She also made a tiny little cake just for Dax to enjoy. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with it at first but I'm pleased to report that much of it ended up in his left ear and a good amount wound up in his hair. So it was a complete success.

Unfortunately, the digital camera's battery died just as Dax was beginning to open presents. But before it did, I was able to get pictures of two of our littlest guests.

Miranda.....

And Bobby.....


To date, Dax has already had two parties and he doesn't even turn one year old until Tuesday.

His great-grandpa John would be so proud.

Heartbreaker

My friend Nate and I were listening to some tunes at the office today. He was digging waaaaaaay back into the ol' iPod files, playing all our favs from back in the day.

At one point, he started playing Air Supply. I was instantly transported back to my childhood and the Golden Spike Roller Rink where I spent many a breathless Saturday night wishing for some boy or another to ask me to join him in the Snowball Skate.

I tried to explain the Snowball Skate to Nate. See, all the girls would line up at one end of the rink and all the boys would line up at the other. Then one boy would skate over and ask one girl to skate around the rink with him.

If they were particularly experienced, the boy would skate backwards while holding the girl's hands as they glided around the rink underneath the spinning disco ball. Then someone would blow a whistle and the duo would separate. The boy would go choose another girl to skate and the girl would choose another boy to skate. Repeat and repeat until the sappy song ended.

I told him how my friends and I would bunch together in the corner, holding hands and whispering about which boys we wanted to skate with and which boys we would sooner break our necks than skate with. Inevitably, the Snowball Skate would end and none of us would have been asked to skate by any boy. We would slink off the rink, dejected. Sighing, we'd promise each other that the next time....yes, the very next time....he'll ask.

One day I got asked.

The song that was playing was Air Supply's "All Out of Love" and when he took my hand to skate, I thought I would barf. Then, when he turned around to skate backwards, I nearly passed out. I just kept thinking of how I would absolutely DIE if I fell down and wondering if my hands were too sweaty and then (ohmygodohmygod) freaking out that they would become too sweaty if they weren't already (OHMYGOD) and then....

Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Someone blew the whistle and I made a beeline for the nearest exit. There was no WAY I was going to go over to that wall and pick another boy to skate with me.

Tonight as I watch Dax playing on the floor with his daddy, I can't help but think about the fact that someday he'll ask a girl to skate or to dance or to take a walk around a moonlit lake. And maybe that girl will be so nervous that she spends every second with him worrying that she's going to upchuck. Or maybe that girl will snub him, saying she'd rather break her neck than skate/dance/walk with him.

And, see? I'll be ready for the day he comes home and says, "I don't think she liked me. She didn't say a word to me and, when I let go of her hand, she wiped it on her pants." Then I can tell him about the first time a cute boy asked me to Snowball Skate.

And I figure he will either be sufficiently confused or bored enough at that point to forget all about that silly girl.

Phew!

This single mom biz is not as simple as one might think. One might think that, since I only have one very small child, taking care of him all by myself for a short bit of time would be a piece of cake.

Just so you know, if you are one who might be thinking this? I may have to come over there and kick you in the shins.

During my short stint as a single mom, my child has accomplished the following:
1. Crawled underneath the safety gate and enjoyed his first taste of cat food.
2. Crawled inside the dishwasher.
3. Attempted to crawl into a space that was much too small for him and got his head stuck, being freed only after mommy could stop giggling long enough to move a piece of furniture.
4. Perfected the term, "Uh-oh."

During my short stint as a single mom, I have accomplished the following:
1. Took pictures of my son attempting to crawl under the safety gate.
2. Resisted taking a picture of my son eating cat food.
3. Unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher.
4. Removed my son from the dishwasher.
5. Gathered all the dirty laundry and put it into one big pile. I hope to actually wash it sometime tomorrow.

Washing the baby with the dishes would be a timesaver but I pride myself on not cutting corners. Not only did I not put Dax through the dishwasher, I also refrained from adding the dishes that wouldn't fit in the machine into his evening bath. It's all about restraint, people.

We also had a playdate with Siobhan and Miranda. This was, by far, the most enjoyable part of our weekend so far. I'm pretty sure Dax was happy to play with someone who is far less likely to say "no" and I was thrilled to spend some time with someone who doesn't wear a diaper. Um, that would be Siobhan, by the way.

How cute are these two?

Jiggity Jog

Our vacation was spectacular but over much too soon.

Dax was a superstar, of course. He slept on the flight to Colorado and earned himself a pair of United Airlines wings.

I took a kazillion pictures, of course. If you are interested in seeing them all, just let me know and I'll e-mail the Snapfish links to you.

For now, I must run. Cat is in Hollister for a few days so I'm single momming it. Dax has no patience for posting entries to his journal tonight.