If I could think of a witty title for this post, I'd put it here.

Brendan will be a year old in just over a month. ONE YEAR OLD PEOPLE! This little fact tends to cause palpitations and eye spasms, not to mention excess forehead wrinkles. I'm excited about everything that's to come, watching my little baby grow into a little boy but at the same time, I can't help but miss all the special little baby things. All those adorable milestones - like the first time he gave me a genuine smile. And the first time I heard that contagious laugh. I spent so much time in the beginning looking forward to when he would be just a bit older (can't wait until he's out of the bobble-head phase, can't wait until he can sit up on his own, etc.) and now I'm wishing he was still my snuggly little peanut.

The babe is not at all interested in sitting still. I think it's a frustrating stage for him because he still hasn't figured out how to crawl or walk on his own and he wants to go out and explore. Daddy and I work on his walking with him every day. But Sir has his own idea about how the process should go so when Ken and I try to hold him by his waist rather than his hands, he goes into near-hysterics. How dare we deviate from the established Bootie walking procedure?! I'm pretty sure I'm going to need back surgery by the time this stage is over.

Sadly, he already has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the scale. When we're walking him, he makes a beeline for the kitchen and then walks right to the scale and promptly sits down on it. Every time.

About two weeks ago he figured out how to get himself up into a sitting position from laying down. It was one of those, when I walked away he way laying down but when I came back, not so much situations. "How... hey... weren't you just... hmph!"

As I get ready in the morning, I leave him sitting on the living room floor surrounded by toys and his favorite show, Blues Clues, on the boob tube. I'm in the habit of checking on him every minute or so to make sure he hasn't learned to run in the last five minutes or found any sort of inedible substance to toss in his mouth while I'm not looking.

This morning I did my mid-hairdrying check and what do I see but our little explorer trying to pull himself up to get a better look at all the stuff he isn't allowed to touch on the coffee table. I say his name and he turns around with an absolutely angelic look and proceeds to slink down slowly so that he's laying down all innocent-like on the floor. With a look that says, "Mommy, I was just laying here watching TV. I wasn't trying to pick up that pen/magazine/remote control on the table."

I walked back into the bathroom, counted to ten, and tiptoed back out into the living room. And lo and behold - there's our little angel making his way back over to the table. I stood there quietly until he made his dutiful look back to make sure Mom wasn't watching. And there's that innocent, "I was just sitting here looking. I wasn't going to touch, promise" face. I've got your number kid.

So yeah, one year. ::sigh::


Brendan is one day away from 11 months today!