Celebrating a Year of Torin Isaiah

February 2nd, 2008...moments after birth

I think I'm already choking up, thinking about the last year with Torin Isaiah. Reminiscing about people and places I love always makes me teary. There is little that can compare to the joy that this little person brings to anybody in his presence. He is sheer delight.

Now

In honor of this big milestone, I thought I would post a snapshot of our little Torin--a moment in time because he is changing so fast, a month from now this list would look different, I'm sure. Mark and I wrote up a long list of things about Torin that we'll put in his baby book, but here I'll just give you an abridged version (I won't bore you will all the details that only parents get a huge kick out of).

• CUTE! (okay, I just got that out of the way)
• Cuddly: Loves to give mom kisses by wrapping his arms all the way around our necks and opening his mouths and rubbing it on my face. Best kisser.
• FUNNY! Loves to make funny faces by squishing up his face, or smiling and then biting his teeth together and apart over and over. Always has a smile to give and loves to laugh.

• Loves his daddy: When Mark walks in the house after being at the office, he ALWAYS stops what he's doing and gives him a huge smile, and quickly dawdles over to reach up for him with enthusiasm. Best welcome home (since Ashen is usually too busy these days to give his famous welcome home).

• Growing friendship with Ashen: Follows him around (and vice versa), likes to tickle Ashen (and vice versa) by saying "tick-a, tick-a". Jumps on Ashen if A is on the floor...like a tackle. Tickles and tackles his brother.
• Loves to chew on shoes
• Favorite pastime: Looking out our front window (watching the birds, the trees in the wind, dogs on walks and biting on the sill...yuck!).
• 
• We call him our little wrecker: he destroys anything he can get his hands on...for example: towers his dad and brother are building. He has an extremely fast reflex and can hit things down before you can even attempt to block him.
• 
• Nicknames: TT, Teeters, Tori, Torino
  
• Chatterbox: Always find TT making noises. Still appears to be checking out his range of vocals by exercising the highest pitched ones during Ashen's nap. Loves to imitate our voices. Can say about a dozen words.
• Thrill Seeker: Not easily scared. Gravitates towards the things that scare Ashen...like the vacuum cleaner, which he can't get enough of). Loves to be startled and laughs afterwards. Loves to be thrown in the air and spun around quickly. Crazy.
  
• Reader. Especially books with cute babies' photographs.
• Loves singing. Will "sing" along with me to tunes like Amazing Grace, Twinkle Twinkle and even Over the Rainbow.
• To my chagrin, he has never slept through the night. Best nights have been the past week. Goes to sleep at 6:30pm, sleeps 9 hours, wakes, sleeps until 6.
  
• Loves anything carbs--favorite food is lasagna, spaghetti, Annie's mac and cheese from a box.
  

Yes, that was the abridged version. There is a lot to know and love about TT.

We celebrated last night with lasagna and cupcakes (loved them, of

course!) and will celebrate with our families the next two weekends. Like I said, he is a lot to celebrate!

Warning: Nostalgia : I was just looking through the pictures from his birth this evening, and I still can't believe that it's been a year, and yet he has grown and changed an unfathomable amount. Remembering how little and new he was makes me teary (again!). Sometimes I want to go back in time and cuddle my little babies again. Last night I was looking at pictures of Ashen with him from his first few days home. He was 7 months, itty bitty, and a delicious baby. Seriously yummy. Just look at posts from July 2007. Remembering the joy of my sons' young lives is a treasure that I want to remember this vividly forever. They are becoming amazing young boys, but they'll always be my babies I think.