A BUNCH OF KEYS: One

Monday, June 18, 2012

One

It's hard to believe that a year can by so quickly. Today Gideon turns ONE! In fact, at the same time as I'm writing this post now, Gideon would have been only two hours old. We would have still been lying in the bed at home where he was born, having skin to skin time and attempting baby-led attachment (he took a little longer to breastfeed successfully but that's a whole other story ;))

I'm actually feeling a little teary and sentimental writing this post as the lead up to actually getting pregnant and my pregnancy and birth with Gideon was such an emotional journey. I feel incredibly blessed every single day for having Gideon in my life. He has brought us hope again and helped heal my heart.

I can honestly say that I have cherished every day of Gideon's life so far. I think that losing a baby really helps you realise just how precious these little ones are and even though it has been difficult I am thankful to the two babies I lost for teaching me this lesson. It has taken me until now to realise why they were sent to me.

Right from the start Gideon has always been close to us. We wore him in the sling during the day and at night he slept with us on our chest. Now a year on, he is still sleeping in the sling during the day (although the sleeps these days are few and far between!!) He still likes to sleep on our chest at night although he's getting a tad big these days and usually ends up with his head on my chest and the rest of his body on the bed! And yep, I can probably still count on two hands the amount of times Gideon has slept by himself! If you'd told me a year before Gideon was born that I'd have a baby that wouldn't sleep on it's own and was still sleeping on my chest at 12 months old I probably wouldn't have believed you. Now it's just normal (and even my back has mostly adjusted to my weird sleeping positions!)

The past month or so I have really seen some big changes in Gideon. No longer my little baby, he is turning into a real little boy with attitude. He loves lots of noise and getting in on the action with the other two kids. If there's a stacks on, he'll come quickly crawling up and climb on top of everyone! He has such a happy, laid-back personality. No matter how tired or upset he is, you can usually coax a smile out of him by doing something silly or by giving him a tickle. He has a very cheeky streak as well. Catch him doing something he shouldn't or 'tell him off' and he'll smile and laugh at you.

He's a speedy crawler these days and has just started taking one or two steps by himself. That proud look on his face when we cheer him on after taking a step is just priceless. While I'm looking forward to him starting to walk there's a little piece of me that's just a little sad. They really don't stay 'babies' for long!

Happy Birthday, little boy, and thanks for choosing me to be your Mummy.