28/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Jimmy: Mucking about with Dadee's hat, wearing his new top from Grandma, during our birthday picnic lunch with Dadee at K-State. 

Jimmy's belly is full of blueberries that he helped himself to, from the open container, because he could. He is full of confidence, this boy is, and calm too. And even if he gets unsettled around new people or in new places, he usually only requires a cuddle (and perhaps a little nursing), and then he's good to keep going. 

He's also hilarious. 

And he's one. He's a one year old. Oh gosh. Oh wow.

Photo credit: Michael

One

Opening Birthday presents from Grandma

Well, yes, that year went fast. I mean, wow.

And yet, as Michael puts it, it's been such a natural transition from being a couple to being parents. We actually hardly remember what we did before we had Jimmy. He fills our days with such light, laughter, and joy. Babies are amazing. Our Jimmy-bubba is amazing.

And he's one. And I can't quite believe that we've had him for a whole year. So, we celebrated Jimmy, our Winter baby, we celebrated him as best we could in the US Summer.

We started with presents from Grandma, Granny & Pop, and Auntie K. An excellent selection of clothes and bath toys, books and Wiggles CD's, and some very Finnish books, respectively. Plus a newly finished jumper and a yellow ball from Mumma and Dadee.

And then breakfast! My parents started a nice birthday tradition of letting the birthday child choose what they wanted for breakfast on their birthday, although I'm pretty sure pancakes were off the menu on school days... Now, Jimmy is a little too young to express what he wants to eat, unless it's right in front and he doesn't want it, so we did a little guess work and went with fruit:

Yummy summer fruit, because we could. And Jimmy ate everything except a few blackberries. We were all full once we'd finished our plates. At one point, the conversation took a serious turn...

Hmmmm... it's ok, because someone told a joke, and it was apparently a good one :)

There is a tinge of sadness in all the excitement, because Jimmy is growing up so fast and those top teeth are the end of a truly gummy smile, but they open up a whole new world of food for our bubba. I'm going to have to stop calling him bubba soon... ok, maybe by his second birthday...

Naps and lunch with Dada followed breakfast. Yay - lunch with Dadee! It might be a regular activity, but lunch with Dada this week involved oti (a ginger drink, more soon), half a punnet of blueberries, and a 'big' yellow ball. Not to mention a new giraffe top from Grandma (it's this week's photo for the 52 Project).

Jimmy and I had the afternoon to ourselves, listening to the Wiggles and eating (and throwing) bananas. Jimmy really likes bananas, because he says "ah nana" and we give him a quarter of a banana, skin and all (he likes biting the skin... it's a little odd, but he has worked out how to peel the skin, he only does it when he wants to).

Once Dadee returned from work, we went to the pool. Have I mentioned that Jimmy loves swimming? The water is usually the perfect temperature for how hot it this week has been, and that day was no exception. The yellow ball and a rubber frog joined us, but it was all about the diving and splashing and kicking.

Oh my Swimmy Jimmy!

Then we had dinner and "cake". But with a bubba who wasn't going to sleep after sleeping on the walk home from lunch with Dadee, things had to be simple, so (frozen) pizza and ginger bread dinosaurs it was! 

 

I had thought to make banana bread and then put a dinosaur on top, plus a candle, but we had no means of lighting the candle, so we just went with fruit and dinosaurs.

Spending time with Jimmy in the evening, instead of the constant stream of "out of the kitchen", "no, you can't be in here, it's not safe for bubba's", etc, was the main reason for keeping the evening simple. Jimmy is highly unlikely to remember particulars about this day, or the pool party we're having on the weekend, but hopefully he will always remember that his birthday is a special day, because Mumma and Dadee spent time with him on his birthday. And at this age, time is more valuable than nice cake or potato masala (what I had originally planned for dinner).

Wow...

Jimmy turned 1 this week. Yes. That's right. One year old. This photo was taken not long after Jimmy was born, just over a year ago.

Jimmy has been around the Sun one whole rotation since he was pulled from my belly, kicking and screaming (no, really, he screamed at the indignity of being so cold and exposed after the warmth of my uterus). He still kicks and screams, mostly when we wont let him do something, i.e. brush his teeth when he's only just cleaned them. Yep, that's my boy.

And that's just it: he's so much more boy now than baby. Oh don't get me wrong, he still likes being nursed to sleep, he's still in nappies, and he still can't walk. All of that will change in the next year. And then he'll be even further from the squishy, vernix covered, pink thing that he was when the doctors held him up for me to see, placenta still attached, telling the World that he had arrived (read: screaming newborn).

Words have been flowing in my head all week, describing how it all feels, what it's been like, what this little person means to Michael and me. Words flowing like a river, freely and fast, but my hands just haven't been able to catch them and transfer them to text. Like water, the words slip through my fingers before I get anywhere near a computer or paper and pen, and then they are gone and I'm left with the sensation but none of the substance. And then I look at Jimmy.

I look at Jimmy and my heart swells, it spills over with love and joy.

And then, on his birthday, as I was nursing him to sleep for his morning nap, and one word stuck. One simple, little word that always holds so much in its three letters, but it's not my word, and I didn't hear it in my voice.

It's a word my Auntie K uses when she's impressed with something, be it food, artwork, knitting or anything handmade, and she said it while sitting across from Jimmy and me, while we were all in Warwick for my Mum's birthday. In that one word she captured all the emotion of motherhood, all the joy and pride of a grandmother, all the realisations daughters have when they are become mothers and look at their parents in a new light, plus the added delight at watching Jimmy. And that word?

"Wow"

Happy Birthday little man! (More birthday related posts to come.)

Top photo taken by a theater nurse at the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital, using Michael's camera. All the others were taken by Michael.

27/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Jimmy: playing with Dada in the one cupboard in the kitchen that is safe for him (no glass, no plastic bags, no net bags of onions (onion skin is just plain annoying to clean up), just tins, a few really big plastic bottles of water, the tray for his highchair and Dada). And he's wearing shoes just for fun.

Michael's mum (Jimmy's Grandma) has a photo of Michael in a cupboard, when he was a bit older than Jimmy is now. We'll share it one day, if she sends us a copy. Jimmy and Michael were having so much fun, it was just adorable. At one point they were both in the cupboard and played "where's Jimmy?" with me (Jimmy specific peek-a-boo).

And the shoes? Well, Jimmy's been fascinated with our shoes for a while and as he's standing more and more, I thought it was about time to bring out the shoes some friends gave us, as the shoes no long fit their son. It's been a week or so now, since the shoes came out, and Jimmy seems to enjoy wearing them. I have to admit that it's a little strange to see him in socks and shoes, shirt and shorts. He looks so grown up.

Fireflies, rabbits, fireworks, and babies...

Yesterday was the 4th of July and there were lots of fireworks here in Manhattan, KS, even though there was no parade and official fireworks show, like the one in Wamego. Manhattan residence have been allowed to use fireworks since July 1 to July 4, from 8 am to 12 am (midnight), and people have been, but it's been kinda annoying to have a few fireworks go off here, and then a few more over there, then another one or two 10 minutes later... Jimmy kept waking, so I was getting annoyed.

But last night... Last night!

We were waiting to see if we'd be able to Skype some friends back in Australia because they were having a birthday celebration in a park for their little boy (he's 4 days older than Jimmy) and Jimmy was grumpy because it was late (after 9 pm). In an effort to distract him, I went to our bedroom with him and we sat looking out the window. I think Jimmy saw the rabbit before I did - it was happily eating the grass, in what is sorta kinda our backyard... And then... then!

First one and then another... and another... and another!

Fireflies!

I called Michael in and we sat looking at the pretty little fireflies, the rabbit, and the occasional flare from fireworks, but the sun was still setting, so we couldn't really see them, but we could hear the bang each time the fireworks went off.

It was lovely watching the fireflies. I haven't seen any in years, not since I was in primary school (I think...) and we went to a small area beneath some mountains. I remember it being warm in town and cool in the mountains, and it was just on sunset too. Magic. Pure magic.

And we were able to see them again, on the other side of the world. Jimmy seemed to enjoy it all, but I'm not sure what he made of the fireflies.

We had our Skype call and saw the birthday cake (it was a train!). It was kinda weird seeing the park, because we know it well and it was broad daylight in Australia... Anyway, Jimmy was a little unsettled and annoyed (because we hadn't let him hold my phone), so we called Granny and Pop and had a quick chat to Granny (Jimmy hugged the phone at one point, as though he were hugging his Granny - he gives lovely hugs).

After all that excitement Jimmy was ready for bed, so I sat with him, nursing him in my lap, watching the fireworks and the odd firefly, until Jimmy decided that he need to be lie down and go to sleep...

The fireworks were still loud, and still went on until after midnight, but they were near constant, so they were much less disruptive for Jimmy, and it was amazing how many we could see. But the fireflies were the best. We'll be looking for more in the coming nights... Shiny...

Jimmy's turning one...

And I'm starting to get excited!

I was trying to play it cool, because, well, you know, it's not like he's going to remember it... We just need a cake and photos of Jimmy with said cake, a book or small toy as a gift to mark the occasion, something to take back to Australia, a few Skype dates with family and friends, and just generally make it a nice day, and later, once Jimmy is in bed, Michael and I can get all nostalgic about the little man's birth and those hazy, but intense, newborn days.

But then a package arrived from Jimmy's Grandma...

And then another, from a close friend, who we call Auntie K...

And then the jumper I've been working on started to look like I might finish it in time (not that it's cold enough, but you know)...

And this is after buying things to make a carry-on-friendly growth chart...

I've even done a trial run on the birthday cake, because our oven and the recipe needed testing...

Granny and Pop are sending something too...

And now there is a pool party organised for our Swimmy Jimmy - oh I hope the weather is nice next Saturday!

A weighty matter...

Samoa 2008: holding Princess while Radar watches (the dogs belonged to our landlords).

A funny thing has been happening to me lately, something I'm not used to, and something that I'm not entirely sure how to respond to:

People are commenting on how much weight I've lost since they last saw me... they're saying I look skinny...