First Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday!!!
It is so hard to believe our little boy is already one. Time always
seems to go fast. It seems faster when we missed the first 7 months of
his life. When Kobe came home at 7 months, he was very delayed
developmentally. Yet within a few weeks of being in a forever family,
he was caught right up to where he should be. So doing everything from
rolling over to sitting up in weeks makes time seem to go so much
faster.

I have many emotions today. As any mom, it is hard to accept your baby
is one. You are happy they are getting bigger, but know how fast time
goes. We never like the thought of losing our "baby". Since it is an
adopted child celebrating his first birthday, there are so many
thoughts and feelings. My heart is heavy thinking of Kobe's birth mom.
How is she doing today? Is her heart aching for the child she gave up?
Or is she content knowing he is so loved and taken care of? If only
she knew what a blessing this little boy has been in our lives. Today
I sit back and think about the last years of our lives. We never
thought we would adopt, but God had other plans. The whole process has
been filled with many ups and downs. Adoption is not an easy road, yet
the rewards are countless!! Kobe brings so much joy to other people's
lives just by flashing one of his contagious smiles. I can't imagine
our lives without him. He truly is the perfect fit into our family. It
is my prayer that his birth mother be comforted and have peace that he
is truly loved. What a hard decision to have to make. She loved him so
much she was willing to do what was best for him. What a selfless act!

Our agency made us aware of the fact that there will be days in our
child's life where they will not be themselves due to a "trama
anniversary." The child may be unconsolable or just out of sorts
around the anniversary of something in their lives. This amazes me
since they are so little when some of these events happen to them.
Research shows that the trama part of your brain has great memory.
Some possible tramatic events could include a hospital stay, date they
left their parents, date brought into the orphanage, etc...Kobe has
been out of sorts the past few days and I'm thinking this could be the
case. We tried to take pictures on Sunday and our little smiling boy
wouldn't smile. The other night things were really bad. He was extremely
crabby.  He is fine at daycare, but that doesn't surprise me. Kids usually act up
more for their families where it is more comfortable.

We had a great night celebrating! Kobe loved his cake. He also loved the simple things such as the balloons. It wasn't fancy by any means, but still very special to us.