One!

Impossibly, my little baby turns one today. This has been the fastest year of my life! And how well I remember this day, exactly one year ago. Right about now, if you had come to our house you would have been greeted by a scene such as this:

Jeff supporting me, while our midwife Bee checked on the baby's heart rate.

Kate, our other midwife, cooling down the water temp in our home birth tub.

Although I did labor in the tub, Atti ended up being born on a mattress we had pulled into the kitchen, right up against the dishwasher. Perhaps that is why the dishwasher is his favorite place to play these days! Here he is, just 15 minutes old or so, with Jeff cutting his umbilical cord.

And a few hours later, warm and fed and utterly exhausted by the day's events!

And here he is now, just the sweetest, happiest, busiest little man around!

This year has truly been a whirlwind, with lots of wakeful nights and long, tired days feeling stretched thin between my three (really four!) boys. But, I wouldn't trade it away for anything. I have loved seeing Sam grow into the role of eldest brother. What a good, helpful, steady presence he is for all of us. He loves his two little guys and is so patient and loving with them. Patch too has become an older brother this year, and has really gone from baby to boy, as he rapidly approaches his fourth birthday. He is full of hilarious remarks and unexpectedly sweet gestures. And Atti, well, he lights up all of our days with his bright blue eyes and ready giggle. He is not walking yet, but definitely thinking about it. He loves playing outside, getting as dirty as possible, and eating as many rocks, sticks, and leaves as he can sneak by me. He can be quite a voracious eater, and also extremely fickle and picky about food. He loves peas and pasta and avocados, but don't try to sneak him any scrambled eggs, not even under that tasty morsel of waffle! He has a whole gamut of adorable and funny faces- he is the most expressive baby! No words yet, but I think those are coming soon too. And he is still shrieking. Not as often as he used to, but man, that kid is loud!! And I love him, simply to pieces.