I'm sure most people feel this way...that they can't believe their little baby is 1 year old already. The saying is so, so true...the days are long but the years are short. Welcoming Owen into our family has made for some long, long days. It has been an adjustment for us all (mostly his older brother Gram!). Having another human to care for takes more work, more energy, more sleepless nights, more worry, more feeding, more rocking....you get the point.
But man, along with all of that has been more and more and more snuggles. I wouldn't trade any of it.
Owen Klarke...I knew you would be fierce. There were times while pregnant with you that it felt like you were literally doing circles inside me. You came out swinging my strong boy, and you haven't stopped. God is referred to as both strong and loving. And when I think about you the first thing that pops into my mind is that you are strong and loving.
I have never met a baby as strong as you. You sat by yourself at 4 months, crawled at 6 months, and walked at 9.5 months. You get knocked down by your brother all the time and yet you rarely cry. You climb, you tumble, you balance, you lift! You carry around a 3 pound weight...in one hand...at 11 months!!! It's incredible. Every day we see you do something that amazes us. You have no fear and often times rightly so, because you have the strength to back it up. I have no idea how this is going to play out in your life, but I can hardly wait to see!
I have never met a baby as loving as you. You love to snuggle, you are my true snuggle bug, and I am so, so thankful for it. I pray you will always be a snuggle bug. There have been many occasions where you have snuggled into friends of ours and even complete strangers. Last year at Vienne Piscitelli's funeral, there was an older woman sitting in the foyer of the church before the funeral started. I was getting something out of your diaper bag and you kept leaning toward her. I asked, "Do you want to go to her?" and you leaned again. She exclaimed, "I would love to hold him!" So I gave you to her...and you snuggled her. You looked up at her and snuggled in, repeat, repeat, repeat. She was beaming. Here we were at a tragic funeral and you were comforting this grandma. It's like you knew she needed some snuggles on this sad day. So loving.
As your personality comes out more and more, we see your goofy side. You are silly like your brother. You give us this big toothy grin while scrunching your face, it's adorable. You love Micky Mouse Clubhouse! You love to dance (especially to the Hot Dog song), whenever there's music on you will dance. It's so cute! You are a great eater, you love sausage and cheese and blueberries and broccoli.
You love your brother and dad so, so much. You three wrestle together and you growl just like Gram. In the morning, you call out, "Dada....dada" and Daddy comes to get you. You repeat almost anything your dad says. And you've learned to meow like a kitty, just like Gram.
Owen, you have added some much joy to our family. You melt our hearts on a daily basis and you make us smile just by watching you walk around. Your laugh is one of the best sounds I've ever heard and it's absolutely contagious. I love you my sweet, sweet boy. And I look forward to many years as your mom.
