My sweet baby buddy turns one year old today. Oh, life would definitely not be the same without this funny and feisty little guy. He’s a smiler and a stinker, a clown and a klepto, a maniac and a mamma’s boy. I thought I had the whole parenting bit figured out, but this guy came around just to prove me wrong! In fact he helped me develop my new philosophy of child-rearing, which is this: Everyone needs to have at least one child, so that you can stop being so judgmental of everyone else’s parenting techniques. Then, once you’ve figured out what you think parenting is all about, you have to keep having children until all of your soap boxes are smashed into itty bitty little pieces.

For example:

I planned on letting Nolan have formula early on in his life. I’m a big fan of breastfeeding, but I decided I was not going to be freakish about it like I was with Mylie. It wouldn’t kill him to have a bottle every now and then, and it would give me a little break. Nolan had other ideas. From day one he refused every bottle we put in front of him, whether it cost $1.00 or $12.00, whether it had formula (in a variety of brands) or breastmillk. Nope, this guy wants what he wants when he wants it.

Secondly, I was pretty convinced that Nick and I were awesome parents for teaching Mylie how to sleep through the night at 12 weeks, and how to soothe herself back to sleep if she awoke in the middle of the night. We could put her down anywhere, and she would practically beg to go to sleep. I believed that any parent who’s child didn’t do this was obviously doing something very wrong. But my little man has shown me that who our children are and what they do (for good or for bad) are not always a reflection of their parents.

Nolan has also taught me that safety gates are my friends, and that the love of trucks and cars really does come pre-wired in boys. He has shown me that even nine-month olds can learn complex physical feats (i.e. sliding down the stairs) in only three attempts. He loves to hug me when he wants to, and then he wants to get down and run! He arches his back and dives out of your arms when you’re least prepared to catch him. He loves music and dancing, and not only smiles at people, but actually initiates the interaction, trying to get others around him to smile. And most of all, he loves his big sister, and will do anything for her attention.

Nolan’s current vocabulary includes: Dadda, Momma, Hi, Bye and Day-eee (which is a multipurpose word, but most commonly signifies loved ones, especially Uncle Cody). He can sign “more” “please” and “all done,” but only when he wants to.

It’s funny to look back on the year and realize that there had been a Nolan-shaped hole in our lives that we didn’t even knew existed until he arrived. Thanks, Nolan, for filling it up for us!