Happy (late) Birthday Hyrum!

I thought about Hyrum's birth day for nearly a week. That rough pregnancy together, his labor and delivery, our first glimpses of each other, his newborn smell and cry, spending every night for the next 2 months sleeping on the couch with him on my chest, swaddling him, cuddling together trying to hide from the rest of the world as I attempted to hold onto the peace that emanated from him, the hardships surrounding his birth and the joy that came from it.

Hyrum's birthday was 2 weeks ago and other than the week long trip down my memory lane, we didn't do much. LeRoy and I realized about 6pm that we didn't even get him a birthday present. On his way home LeRoy picked up a birthday balloon for him, at my suggestion. Since he loves balloons I figured that was a good idea, even though I didn't even go to the effort to pick it up. Uh, yeah, he looks thrilled with his balloon!

You can see the concentration and intense effort going into opening his gift from Grandma.

He loves his book!

I gave my little boy a pink cake, and didn't even bother taking a picture of it. There was good reason for the pink cake (Nathan's help) but no excuse for lack of pictures. Hyrum's part of the cake was frosted with chocolate frosting for ultimate 1st birthday mess. What was I thinking? On his first birthday I present him with enough sugar to kill a small elephant, especially one who has never had sugar. Luckily, he only used the frosting for body paint and ate so little of the cake that it wasn't really worth making. Of course, his happy mess what worth witnessing so a little sugar couldn't have been all bad.

I love Hyrum!

I love his name

I love the way he jumps up and down in his bed in excitement when I walk into his room

I love his toothy smile that brightens up his eyes

I love his excitement for little things, like splashing in dripping water

I love the way he leans his head into me signalling his desire for more hugs

I love his chubby arms and thighs

I love his little pinky finger that has no fingernail

I love his enjoyment of books, both for eating and reading

I love the sky blue color of his eyes and his outie belly button

I love the way he throws his head back when he laughs

I love the way he emphatically throws his food on the floor when he is done eating, even though it makes a big mess

I love his orange food face, proof of his love of minetrone soup, lasagna, and spaghetti

I love the way he covers his head with his blanket and giggles when I put him in bed

I love the times that he lets me hold him for his bottle, setting his independence aside just for a moment

I love the way he sticks his lower lip out and whimpers, squeezing out alligator tears, when he doesn't get his own way

I love how he pulls his socks off with his teeth

I love my baby Hyrum!