Happy (crazy belated) birthday John Paul!

So, way back in March our little John Paul turned 1.

Clearly, I am right on time in posting pictures of his birthday and waxing nostalgic about the last 12 18 months of his life, because we haven’t had another family birthday yet.

Oh wait, I turned 30 in June. Whoops!

we celebrated my birthday with ribs and otter pops... everyone liked the ribs, everyone except John Paul liked the otter pops

Regardless, John Paul did turn 1 and no matter how late I am I can’t fail to blog faithfully about the about-to-be-middle-child, and better late than never and all that jazz. We had a lovely little family celebration, with meat pie (treasured Rappana family recipe) for dinner and Pope cakes topped with strawberries and chocolate for dessert. Dessert was most definitely a hit, especially with the birthday boy.

Although it was only the middle of March the weather was perfect for dinner outside--which was a really good thing, because cleanup was much easier. And even though we have a great dining room and lots of leaves to put in the table, it is getting really hard to fit everyone when we are all together.

and cleanup was... not insignificant

So that was John Paul’s birthday… and it feels like it was forever ago. He was sprint-crawling everywhere in an attempt to keep up with his brothers. He was napping really well, but was still waking up multiple times a night and generally wanting to nurse. He was full of smiles and laughter, had a few consistent signs (“more” and “all done”), and no words yet.

And only five months later (only… almost a third of his life) he is running AND climbing all over the place. He definitely thinks he is one of the big boys, and he’s close to being able to hold his own. He has finally started saying “mama” consistently and it absolutely melts my heart every time. He is sweet and affectionate and cuddly, but also overflowing with mischief and 110% wild little boy. He excels at giving bazoomers (rasperries) and loves to wrestle with his daddy and brothers.

Other words in his ever-expanding vocabulary:
pees--please
datoo--thank you
wa-wa--water (or sometimes milk)
no
yeah
ahge tuck--garbage truck
ash--crash (I remember M saying it exactly the same way at the same age)
soos--shoes (he gets very excited about shoes)
ou-sy--out side (ditto on the excitement)
dou-says--down stairs
ha--hot
dai--bye

And lots and lots of gibberish that perfectly mimics speech patterns and inflections, but has few recognizable syllables. He definitely thinks he’s talking, and half the time I think I understand him.

playing at Roubaix Lake during our vacation to the Black Hills in June

He loves books and his brothers and being outside. He also really loves his crib and I am so thankful for my (currently, knock on wood) wonderful little sleeper. He started sleeping through the night pretty consistently at the beginning of summer, just in time for my pregnancy insomnia and million nightly trips to the bathroom to take over. Naturally.

he sucks his thumb and twirls his hair and we all think it's the cutest thing ever

I can’t get over how big John Paul is getting, but at the same time I’m cherishing (or at least trying to cherish) these last few months of him being my baby. I’ll never forget how huge Michael looked the first time I saw him after Liam was born, and again with Liam suddenly looking so much older and bigger after John Paul came; and I’m already looking forward to/mourning that instantaneous transformation from baby to big brother that is coming in November.

And in case you're like me and absolutely completely obsessed with thoroughly enjoy a good birth story, here's Part 1 and Part 2 of our little Pi Day Baby Story.