Mason turned 1 last night. It was an incredible milestone for us all. Our boy made it through his first year of life healthy and happy. He hit all of his important developmental markers on time, including sitting, eating solid foods, crawling, and standing — and we think he had a lot of fun along the way. We enjoyed every minute of watching him grow up, and it’s been the best year of our lives. To our surprise we turned out to be pretty good at this parenting thing. Just look at the incredible person we made.
I took the day off from work. I couldn’t bear to miss a minute of my boy’s first birthday. We were up bright and early, 5:45, and we ate breakfast together, as usual — strawberry oatmeal for him, cheese toast and coffee for me. We played guitar on our rooftop patio, we did a few yoga moves (Bug and I attended mommy-baby yoga for the first 10 months of his life), we read some books. We ate lunch together–orzo with chicken sausage and applesauce for him, a Portobello burger on a gluten-free bun for me. Bug napped and Chris and I got ready for our own little private family birthday celebration.
We decided to take Mason to an early dinner at Cafe Henri, a local bistro in our neighborhood and the first restaurant we ever visited as a family. Mason was 6 weeks old and Chris and I were absolutely desperate to get out. We had gone to this quiet little bistro to escape for a bit, Mason in tow. Chris and I each drank a glass of wine, shared frites, and enjoyed burgers. We admired our new baby boy, marveling at what a miracle he was, as a live jazz trio played next to us. Bug slept through it all. It was at that moment that we first suspected he was as at home in restaurants as we were. As it turns out, we were right.
We left the restaurant just as a massive storm hit. I cradled Bug in my arms and ran to the car, my flip flops slapping against the wet pavement. We all scrambled into the front seat. We thought Mason would be scared of the thunder and lightening but he loved every minute of it. I suppose loud noises and flashing lights are nothing new to a New York City kid. We held him close waiting for the storm to pass before we would slip him into his car seat and head home. As I watched the rain and kissed the top of my boy’s head, I thought about all that happened a year before and all that’s happened since. How lucky I am. What about you? What did you do on the one-year anniversary of the night your babe was born?
Coming Monday: Mason’s big birthday bash! Be sure to check back for details on his cake + more cookout sides that make great finger foods.
Aww. Happy birthday, Mason! Sounds like a lovely day & evening. You’re lucky he’s so good in restaurants. Roy is just finally getting there (too busy). I’m working on a post about it right now, actually. Congrats to you, too. One year! The question remains, though: what kind of cake did you go with?