The last day of being a one year old.

PJ is doing better -- a little dehydrated but generally back to his happy, energetic self.

So today is my PJ's last day of being one.  Tomororw I will have a 2 year old.  I'll no longer have "2 under 2".   I cannot believe my little guy is 2 YEARS OLD.  It's amazing.  Tonight we'll wrap his gifts and I'll bake him a cake.  Tomorrow we will go to the zoo or to the children's museum depending on this crappy Chicago weather.

Since I doubt I'll post tomorrow, I am going to post my birthday story here.

PJ.  You came 16 days early.  I spent the night before your birth hanging out with Daddy and some of our friends playing poker and hanging out.  We left and I said, jokingly, "This will be the last time you all see me pregnant!" Because I figured we wouldn't see them again before your due date of April 7.

I woke up around 3:30 that morning to go to the bathroom, and noticed a little something different going on.  I figured I'd go back to bed and see if it was still there.  Around 4 a.m., I woke up again and noticed a wet spot on the sheet, and the same issue going on in the bathroom.  I called the doctor, and he said it sounded like my water broke and to get to the ER.

I woke up a very crabby Daddy, and we go to the hospital, him grumbling the whole way that it was a false alarm, and yadda yadda yadda.  We had the test done to prove it was amniotic fluid, and it was! YAY!  You were on your way, baby boy.  Your Daddy changed his tune pretty quickly.

It was about 5 a.m. at this point.  I still wasn't feeling any contractions, but decided I liked it that way, so I got the epidural around 6:30 a.m.  Daddy started calling your grandmas and grandpas to let them know you were on your way.

My labor was not terrible, you took it easy on your mommy.  Around 4:00 p.m. I started pushing.   You were born at 4:20 p.m.  I cried the moment I laid eyes on you.  The amount of love that surged through my body was like a feeling I'd never felt before.  All I wanted to do was hold you and kiss you and tell you how much I loved you.  I didn't get to spend time with just me and you till hours later -- the first time I held you, just me and you, I looked at your precious, peaceful face.  Sound asleep in my arms, like you were always there.  It felt natural, right, wonderful.  Like you were the piece of me that I never knew I was missing.

I look at you now, a happy, energetic, playful 2 year old.  You are a loving and caring little boy, always giving hugs and kisses, often unrequested, just because.  No matter how terrible things are or how bad of a day I've had, seeing how excited you get when I walk in the door makes it all go away.  You, PJ, are my happiness.  You are one of the three loves of my life. 

And I thought I loved you then.