right at this time one year ago, i was getting in the car to head for the hospital. xavier was supposed to be induced on august 1st, but here we were on july 31, and he was coming without regard for the soccer age cutoff date.

with some assistance from our doc, xavier made it into the world at 6:55 a.m.

i can't believe my baby is one.

he's my little chubba wubba with a round face and dimples in his cheeks. he sometimes sounds like a gorilla ("oooohhh!") and often just stands around calling my name. he toddles around with his arms bent, hands by his ears as if in a hold up. he's been walking for a month now and he learned pretty much on his own, with no prompting from mama or daddy. he can climb almost anything, which can be scary because sometimes i find him standing on top of a table looking so proud of himself. deep down i'm proud of him, too, but my first reaction is to panic that he'll fall and break his neck. he signs for more food and prefers the take and toss sippy cups to the fancy nuby one i bought to transition him from his bottle. he loves to dance and will bop to any tune and any beat, especially the ones that his kuyas make up. his toy of choice is this blue stacking cup and a big glowstick that he uses to stir whatever he imagines is in his blue cup. or he'll choose whatever toy kuya owen is playing with.

xavier, daddy and i love you so much. i am so grateful that i have been there all day, every day to see you grow and change and bring joy to our lives. your kuyas love you so much, too - and they look out for you. i look forward to the goodness you have yet to bring to the world...in the mean time, stay my little chubba wubba for as long as you like. i like eating your round cheeks! happy birthday, xavier!