A year old...when did that happen?

Not sure when it happened but a year has passed since our little dude joined our family. I feel like I was just waddling around IKEA yesterday waiting for his arrival. We got home from IKEA about 2 hours before I went into labor. Consequently, we went to IKEA today, too. I had this great plan to chronicle what life has been like as a family of four- well, in greater detail than I have- but, alas, I guess this is what happens when you add another child into the mix. Kudos to anyone who can maintain a blog better than I have.

Not gonna lie, those first 3 months were rocky and crazy. It probably didn't help things when we decided to put the house on the market for three months. Come to think of it, since Dash's birth it has been a non-stop crazy train ride for us. Perhaps it's a testament to the presence that he has created in our lives....the kid is a bulldozer and I say that with lots of love. He's a loud, playful, crawling, toothless wonder with lots of energy and a very devilish smile...I wonder where
he got it from?

He and Julian are BEST buds and we are so excited to see just how much fun they have together. Julian is so kind with Dash. He watches over him to make sure he doesn't play with toys that are not safe for him and makes sure to take them away and replace them with toys that are safe. It's so helpful to have a watchful big brother around!! He even makes sure Dash doesn't crawl towards the stairs. If Dash does, Julian goes, "No Dash, don't go to the stairs!" and runs and gives Dash a big bear hug and lays on top of him to make sure he doesn't go anywhere. ( I'm really glad we only have one staircase in the new house. :)) A big part of our motivation to have another child was to give Julian a sibling and after seeing them together over this past year, I am so grateful that they have each other. Where Julian is a sensitive, relatively calm, and pensive child, Daschel is proving himself to be a tasmanian devil and we are excited to see what kind of personality comes out of him as he gets older.

So happy birthday to my little rogue, my little devil. It's been an awesome year getting to know you and I am excited to see what this next year has to offer. Here he is enjoying his first ever sweet treat today. See anything funny about this picture? ;) Happy birthday, chuck!