Oh my boy, you have reached the big numeral uno, you’re 1! I am so proud of you and the little boy you have become. Your personality is amazing, you’re so much fun to be around, and you truly brighten the days of your father and I.
Let’s check in on the last month.
Updates for the month
Your birthday parties
Yeah…that’s right. Plural. You had multiple parties! The main reason for this is because of your Biz Nonna. We didn’t want to make her drive up to the Sunshine Coast, since she’s not comfortable in the car and it does wipe her out physically. It’s a big day. She’s made several special efforts for you, like when you were first born and again for your baptism.
To save her from the drive we decided we would have one in Brisbane for your father’s side of the family, and one on the Sunshine Coast for the other half of the family and friends. And let’s not forget that you even got another one at daycare! Phew! Let’s check them out.
Party 1 – Brisbane
Your party down in Brisbane was amazing, your Nonna went to so much effort! We were so lucky she did that, as it was a bit difficult for us travelling up for the party. By the time we arrived there was barely anything to do! Your Nonna had made so much food for everyone and decorated outside (we helped with that part but that’s about it). Your Zia Natalie had made an amazing pirate cake for you, complete with treasure map and chest! You were absolutely spoiled beyond belief with presents, and it was such a wonderful day.
Fun fact – you puked on your Biz Nonna! I think the Italians had been feeding you a bit much!
Party 2 – Sunshine Coast
The Sunshine Coast party was held at our place, and your dad had been preparing for months. There were a lot of online purchases of pirate accessories and decorations, and quite a few hours went into decorating your cake. It was really nice to see your dad back in the kitchen again as he hasn’t really had much time for it. If your first birthday cake is an example, then my boy, you are going to have some spectacular birthday cakes in your time.
Once again you were spoiled beyond belief. There was so much love around you that day. You went to everyone with smiles, you played in the pool with family for ages, and even had some birthday cake courtesy of Aunty K-A!
Fun fact – you puked again later that night. Oops.
Party 3 – Daycare
On your actual birthday you got to celebrate with your friends at daycare!
Your dad had made your another cake, this time a vegan chocolate bundt cake so that if any other bubbas had allergies they wouldn’t be affected. It had avocado and coffee in it (we used decaf to be safe), and it’s amazing (anyone looking for the recipe it’s here; it was a favourite of a guy I used to work with who was vegan).
Hilariously, your daycare teachers told us that all the bubbas got on a sugar high, and they waited for the inevitable crash. And boy did it come! Everyone had a great nap that day! They even managed to capture the progression of your crash on camera, it made us giggle. I can’t get enough of your happy face in your birthday hat, you are one gorgeous little guy.
Fun fact – no puking that day.
“Camping”
We also went “camping” this month, and I use the quotation marks for a reason. We had booked in to go to Noosa North Shore with friends, except that it was forecast for a monster storm that weekend.
A few years back, before you came along, we had gone camping at Fraser Island. Except we were on the island for barely 12 hours, since we got smashed by a storm that broke every single bit of equipment we had. Overnight, your father and I had taken turns trying to give support to the poles of the tent so they wouldn’t buckle, but at 4am our efforts proved to be in vain as they twisted, buckled and broke. The gazebo broke shortly after, and the toilet tent/ensuite thing wasn’t far behind. Needless to say we packed up, threw a lot of stuff in the bin and went home.
That trip spooked us, and since then we’ve been extremely wary of camping in bad weather. Following that we bought a swag instead of a tent, which has been amazings, but when you were born we ended up buying a camping trailer. There was no way that all three of us would fit in the swag together with Missy, and we needed more room. No doubt you’ll be using the swag when you’re older – my hope is that you love the outdoors as much as we do.
On this particular weekend knowing that a storm was forecast your father reflected that a trailer meant the potential again for wind and storm damage. If anything happened and we needed to give our full attention to the trailer we were concerned about your welfare (since you’re not walking nor old enough to look after yourself). As a result your dad made the call to book us into one of their motel-style rooms instead. The trailer stayed outside, our friends camped with their caravans and we were in another location altogether. I also used the opportunity to hint that maybe we should get a caravan in the future *grin*
As it turned out there was a bit of rain and that was it. Nothing crazy at all. But you were safe, and we had a huge living area for you to run amok in.
Hopefully our friends will invite us back again next time and we can camp for real – you’ve done it before and we know you’re great at it, we just have to hope the weather is on our side! And when you’re a bit older, you’re walking and you can understand things a bit better it will be a lot easier. You’ll know to sit still (hopefully) while we attend to anything that needs attention as a result of bad weather!
Fun fact – you had a lot of fun playing in the sand at the beach, but that’s not really a surprise. You’re very much a sand and water baby!
First haircut
Well, I waited and waited and waited…and finally once you had hit 12 months old it was time to cut your hair! You were very lucky to have your best mate’s mum, Kyleigh, cut your hair! Let’s be honest, if I had done it you probably would have ended up looking something like this:
Right now we’ve kept the lock of your hair, which sounds mighty gross. But every year we create a clear bauble for the christmas tree with something in it from your year, and this year I think it might just be that. Last year we have your hospital bracelet and the little love heart you slept with in ICU for the first few days after you were born (had my scent on it).
The day we fell over
I debated whether to write this in here, because it’s not a very happy incident. But it was a pretty big deal to me in an emotional sense (not in a good way).
I was carrying you in my arms, on our way to take the rubbish out to the rubbish bin. I stepped off the pergola onto the grass, my ankle twisted and we crashed to the ground. There was no time to adjust or react. We both fell onto the grass, I landed on my knees and you fell backwards, landing on your back and head.
I don’t think I have ever screamed so loudly for your father before. He came racing, just as you ripped into tears. I was mortified, and all I could do was hand you over to him. He asked if I was OK and I screamed “don’t worry about me! Is he OK? Has he damaged his head? Is his skull OK?” Your father walked around the yard with you calming you down, assuring me you were fine. I think I asked him about 10 times, and apologising to you over and over.
I cried for about 5 – 10mins, bawling my eyes out over what had happened. My stupid ankle! Later I would come to find out that there were holes in the ground from where there had been spots dug for the pergola and they hadn’t been filled yet. The grass had grown over them hiding them, and while your father knew they were there I didn’t (he thought I did). As you can imagine I went nuts, and your dad filled them in pretty quickly. It was just a sheer accident.
Thankfully you were OK, just shocked and crying out of surprise more than anything. The grass had absorbed your fall. As for me, I had a pretty sore ankle for a few days but thankfully no long lasting damage.
The whole ordeal was horrible.
Weight
You’ve hit the mid 11kg mark, and now that you’re moving around a lot more your weight increase is stabilising. You’re not gaining massive amounts of weight every month like you used to!
However, even though your weight increases are small that doesn’t mean that it’s getting easier to carry you around! On the contrary, both your father and I have had sore backs this month from picking you up. If I don’t flex my stomach and clench my glutes to support my lower back as I pick you up then I nearly blow my back out every time. I suppose there’s never a better time to learn proper lifting technique right?
Other updates
I’m running a half marathon
This month I spontaneously decided I’m going to run a half marathon next year. I love running and it’s been really nice to start getting back into it again. It’s an ambitious plan but I think I can do it, especially with the support from your father and yourself. I can’t wait to cross that finish line and make you proud.
I can’t wait to cross that finish line and make myself proud! In typical Kelsbells fashion I’m blogging the journey too.
Your Poppy the sailor
In what was meant to be an easy sail back from Japan with some friends, your Grandpa (Poppy) ended up spending nearly 3 months at sea; they had quite the adventure! They had to dodge tsunamis, experienced undersea earthquakes and had unexpected stopovers at little pacific islands to wait for the weather. It was truly the experence of a life time, and they even got a write up in the local paper.
We were lucky enough to go aboard the boat afterwards, which you loved.
I don’t know how they managed so long at sea on the boat with 5 of them and didn’t kill each other, but I’m impressed. It takes a special person to be a sailor, and I’m not one of them. Plus having a burst eardrum from scuba diving that has forever screwed with my equilibrium and sinus means I get seasick pretty easily now. So yeah….dry land for me.
What now…?
So, I guess that’s it for your monthly updates. I still plan to write to you in the future but I think I’ll keep it yearly from this point on. I’m excited to see you grow and develop, and I can’t wait to see where life has taken you 12 months from now.
Some of the milestones I’m excited about are:
- Your first steps – you’ve walked using your walker once, but the second time you fell and it spooked you so you’ve not been keen since – it appears you’re a bit of a cautious lad, and to be honest I’m happy with that since at 2 years of age I was climbing the neighbour’s roof! My poor mother!
- Continuous development of your speech – you already understand a few things we ask of you, like sit down (repeatedly requested in the bath when you try to stand up and move around, or when we make you sit down so you can have a snack to eat). I’m excited to see how much you’re talking next year. I’ve also made a huge mental note to stop swearing now, and be quite cautious with what I say around you!
- Sleep – oh my god I hope you’ve refined your sleep abilities by the time 2 years rolls around. I long for a solid night’s sleep!
That also reminds me that we need to build your height chart so we can start tracking! Lucky we’ve taken all your measurements. I think your dad has a pretty cool idea in mind with making something out of timber.
Oh, and by the way, I filmed this. Sorry, I thought it was kinda funny.
Well, until next year my little man. Thank you for the most challenging and rewarding year of my life. It’s been tough, I won’t lie, and it’s pushed both your father and I individually and together. We’ve come through it as a team though, and our reward has been to be blessed with an amazing little guy. Your personality is fun and you’re so great to be around. You keep things exciting and interesting, and you continue to teach us about ourselves. Thank you for everything you have brought to our lives.
We love and adore you with everything we have. You’re amazing.
Love,
Your mama x
One more crossed off that list