To My Son On His 1st Birthday

Dear Riley:

Happy Birthday! I can hardly believe you’re a whole year old. People say it goes by so fast, but I sure didn’t think so with your brother. Now that there’s 2 of you, though, life really has seemed to speed up. Why, it seems like just yesterday your dad and I were dressing you in a miles-too-big newborn outfit to take you home from the hospital. And now look at you -- you’re busting out of your 12 mos.-size footy PJs!

I have to be honest: we weren’t sure about you in the beginning. Oh, we loved you from Day 1 and thought you were the cutest thing we’d seen in 3 years. (Cuter, actually, since your brother was more banged up after his rough entry into the world.) But BOY, could you scream. And you did. Often.

In fact, high-pitched outrage was your default setting. We thought you had gas, so we put you on meds for that. Then we thought you had reflux, so we tried to treat that. But the truth, as our pediatrician aptly pointed out, was that you were just a sensitive baby. You get that from me, sorry. Including your sensitive stomach.

Seriously? I’d never seen so much spit-up in my LIFE. In public, people stopped in their tracks to ask, “Is that normal?!” I lost count of how many bibs you went through in a day. And our carpets will never, ever be the same.

You were so attached to your mama that I worried I might have to carry you in a sling till kindergarten. The first few times I left you with a sitter you wailed and sobbed and in one case, even refused to take a bottle -- unheard of for you.

But then, gradually, almost imperceptibly, you began to change. You started to smile, then laugh. You began to crawl, then walk, then run. Just like the doctor said, you stopped spitting up (as much) and that blocked tear duct that made everybody think you had pink-eye cleared up. You got some teeth -– a whole MOUTHFUL –- and you started eating real food. In fact, just yesterday you turned up your nose at a jar of baby food, but wolfed down the bits of spinach and tomato quiche and sweet potato fries I shared with you.

But Riley, the real turning point came when you were about 10 mos. old. That’s the magical month when you began to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. And it’s a good thing, because I was seriously beginning to lose my will to live. And I may even have considered “forgetting” to pick you up at the babysitters’ a time or two. Kidding! Though I really can’t overemphasize how much your sleeping 8-10 hrs. straight endeared you to us. It also seemed to make you a happier baby, so we all win.

These days, you are a cheerful, energetic, busy guy. You love to eat paper, crayons, and socks. You adore emptying drawers and climbing up stairs. You LOVE dogs -- a little more than they love you. You know how to use a remote control, and pretend to use a phone. You enjoy music, and have an enviable sense of rhythm already. I’m a little worried about your utter lack of interest in books, but maybe that will come.

For now, you can’t be bothered to sit still for longer than it takes to chug a bottle. You’ve got things to do, toilet paper to unroll, kitchen implements to scatter about! The one time you’ll concede to snuggling is at night, just before you go to bed. That’s one of my favorite times of day.

Riley (aka Ry-Ry, the Ry Guy & Ry Dog), we love you so much and can barely remember what our family was like before you came along to complete it. Wishing you a very happy 1st birthday, filled with love, laughter, and cupcakes. Maybe I’ll even let you chew on a crayon or 2.

Love, Mama