Dear Aaron

Oh, my sweet little bit. I knew this year would go fast, but that didn't make it any less of a shock. I feel like it was just a few nights ago that you were a tiny little guy sleeping in my arms. Now the only way I get to snuggle with you is when I read you books. 

You may be child #3, but you are perfectly capable of holding your own with Seth and Catherine. You adore them--they are the most interesting people in your entire world. No one can get you to laugh as easily as Catherine can. 

You are my first mommy's kid. Both the others preferred Daddy, but you look for me. This does make things like teaching co-op or cooking dinner complicated, but it's a sweet feeling to be so needed and so loved. If you ever lose sight of me for more than a few minutes, I can count on your Mommy Radar to bring you crawling over to see me as quickly as possible.

You are a serious boy, just like your brother was. You are an observer and an experimenter. Since the day you were born you insisted on being carried facing out--the world is too interesting! 

I love your blue blue eyes and your red red hair. I love your chubby, drooly cheeks. I love watching you explore your world, but I love that you always come back to find me. Don't grow up too quickly--I feel like tomorrow you'll wake up walking and talking and I'll have missed those last precious moments of your babyhood. 

Love you, little bits.

(Since I don't have any talented photographer friends living nearby anymore, I did my best with my new fancy camera and lens. These are some of my favorites of Aaron. Seth and Catherine both had their one-year-old pictures taken at our house. I tried my best to re-create their pictures with Aaron and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!)

Aaron at One

  

(you don't want to know how often he slams his fingers in these stupid drawers)

My little bookworm

My favorite shot

I am most definitely in love