From this…
To this.
He sure did grow into his nose, didn’t he?
Friday, September 3rd was Keaton Daniel Goodfellow Robertson’s first birthday. Everyone around us kept saying, “Wow, can you believe it? That went so fast!” Yes, I can believe it. It did go fast in some ways, but in other ways, it didn’t. I can remember so many long, lingering moments of Keaton and I waking up together, opening our eyes and being the first thing that each other saw, and smiling at each other. That didn’t go by fast. Neither did our morning playtimes, or our afternoon walks.
But as a whole, when I think about a year ago, and the crazy, chaotic birth he had, it all seemed to whizz by. I can remember so clearly every nurse in the hospital when they constantly came in to check my blood pressure (it seriously seemed like every two minutes). I can remember holding Keaton for the first time, as they passed him to me in the operating room, all bundled up in a yellow blanket. Didn’t that just happen? That doesn’t seem like a year ago.
But it was. And, as babies do, that little furrowed-browed, big-nosed Gnome King’s son (that’s what I called him) 10 lb, 3 oz baby has grown into a 23 lb, standing, pointing, expressive young man. He loves books (current fave is Pat the Bunny), and balls, and his little wooden xylophone. His favourite foods are peas, cheese and avocadoes. Amazing how all this develops just in the first year. And there’s still so much more to come.
On his birthday we celebrated Keaton-style. We went to our favourite neighbourhood greasy spoon, Joe’s Grill, for breakfast. It’s like our Cheers – where everybody knows our name, and they’re always glad we came. They still have Keaton’s birth announcement up on their wall, and on Friday all the servers and even the cook made a fuss over our little one-year-old. He even got a special bowl of blueberries and a birthday pancake. (Which he gobbled all up, of course.) After Keaton had two big naps at home, we headed out again to the local dog beach, where an Australian shepherd totally made Keaton’s day by running up to him and licking his entire face. Then a Boston terrier ran by and kicked sand in Keaton’s face, only further enhancing the experience. In the evening our little family took in our last baseball game of the season at the Nat Bailey Stadium, where Keats ate almost one whole veggie dog all to himself. Yes, that boy can pack away the groceries.
As if this fun day weren’t enough, on Saturday we continued the festivities with a birthday party at Auntie Chay and Uncle Joel’s place (thank you, Chay and Joel, for being such wonderful hosts!). Birthday buntings were hung, balloons were blown up, much food and drink was laid out, Keaton got spoiled with awesome presents, and Chay made the most spectacular birthday cake I have ever seen. She really knocked it out of the park, I tell ya. Check it out – she even made a special little cake for the goat hill. Like, seriously. I can’t even handle the amazing-ness. Look at the dandelions!
But most importantly, there was so much love. Everyone was so sweet, with such thoughtful gifts, heartfelt cards and helping out at the party. Brings a tear to this mama’s eye, let me tell you. *sniff*
This past Thursday at our mum & baby drop-in group, another mother and I were talking about our one-year-olds. And she said, “Oh, well your baby’s first birthday is also your birth day. Remember to celebrate that, too.” I hadn’t really thought about it that way, but I like it. I’ve changed so much since Keaton came along, just as he’s changed in so many ways. (More wrinkles for one thing – ha!) And it makes me appreciate my own mum so much more, too. Gad, all this motherhood stuff is just so profound, ain’t it?
In the immortal words of Elton John (or I guess it would be his lyricist, Bernie Taupin), “how wonderful life is, now you’re in the world.” Happy birthday, little dude.
How much do I love this photo? Um, a lot.
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