Happy Birthday to Me!

It's official--I am one year old! My birthday was yesterday, and I got to celebrate with my Mom, Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Fields. Here's a couple videos of them singing "Happy Birthday" and of me trying cake for the first time. Mom wasn't if I would know what to do with the cake, but as you can see, I dug right in.




Here's some more pictures of me while I was eating my cake. I was in a silly mood and decided to make all sorts of crazy faces.







And finally, I was done


I really liked the cake. I was so glad Grandma and Grandpa were able to come visit with me, though I wish it hadn't poured down rain most of the time they were here. Mom took a bunch more pictures of me with Grandma and Grandpa, but she says she'll have to put those in the next post because this one is already so long.

I'm finally starting to get teeth! I did my best to show them to you in some of those pictures, but you can't see them yet. I have one tooth coming in on my top gums, and two coming in on the bottom. It's kind of a drag having them all break through at once.

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!

This is Erin, and I just wanted to share some thoughts and memories that have been in my head the past couple days.

• Labor: I try not to think about that painful experience, but one funny thing I remember was how some of the drugs kicked in right during delivery. They made me so sleepy that I was literally falling asleep between contractions. At first I didn't know it was the medication that was causing me to fall asleep. I was so embarrassed--what kind of mother can't even stay awake during the birth of her child? Finally, my doctor noticed how I was struggling and let me know what was going on!
• As soon as Jack was born, I had no trouble staying awake. I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I just laid there all night in between feedings gazing at him as he slept.
• I remember being startled at how much it hurt me to see him in pain. The first time it happened was when Jack was being treated for jaundice, and the tech didn't warm up his foot before trying to get blood out of his heel. He had to poke Jack's foot a couple times and really squeeze in order to get blood. Jack's cries of pain just cut me to the core.
• Despite the stress, worrying, and fatigue, this past year has been the best experience of mine and Andy's lives. I never imagined that having a baby could be so much fun. Jack is just the cutest, funniest, and most wonderful baby there ever was. He's only been with us for a year, but it's hard to imagine how life was without him.