Welcome!

Hi there! I have been asked to create a daily blog about Billy, my precocious one-year-old son. So, here it is!

First, meet the cast of characters:
Myself, the mom, Sharon- a crazy creative from Baltimore
Chris, the dad- from DC and a technology guru
Grandma, my mother- a stay-at-home mom turned grandmom also from Baltimore
Grandpop, my father- another crazy creative turned medical profession big-wig who now lives on the eastern shore with my stepmom and brother.
Buddy, the dog- our elderly cocker spaniel

Let me catch you up on the past year:

Billy was born 9-30-10 in the middle of a tropical depression. I'm a weather junkie, so it goes to figure there would be major weather on his birth day. In fact, I work in Fells Point and have been waiting to see it flood for 6 years (it's a low-lying area prone to flooding) and missed all the flooding because I was giving birth. That's ok; I can wait. Billy is so much cooler.

So, on a VERY rainy Thursday morning at 9:18 my little man joined the world. He weighed 7lb 10oz.

I was able to get three months of maternity leave, so I stayed home with him through the end of 2010. It was the daily ritual of bottle, play, nap. Pat-a-cake was a winner. The dog, Buddy- endless hours of entertainment. Going out was a big deal for him, when, of course, he wasn't sleeping. I took him everywhere that I went, including an embassy dinner, a charity auction and a multitude of parties. He's always been very socialable and ready to party. On Thanksgiving he was still giggling and going strong while the adults were ready to retire!

Billy has been a bottle baby the majority of his life. While still in the hospital, I developed post-partum PUPP. It's extremely rare and was not diagnosed correctly. It's hives in your stretch marks (I know- ew, right?) and is hormonal in natural, so can't be treated by medicine. I was giving medication to treat regular hives. Well, the medication dried me up. I fully breast fed for two days at home. By the second day Billy cried constantly- he was hungry. My husband got fed up and started supplimenting with formula. I started pumping. I pumped for six weeks, had multiple lactation consulations, bought tons of equipment to try and help it along. After six weeks of constant pumping to get no more than 8 ounces of milk for the day (the combined total of 4-8 20 min pumpings), I broke down into a fit of tears. My husband convinced me to give up and go to formula. Life has been so much happier since then.

After New Years I went back to work. It was tough leaving Lil Man at day care, but work felt like a vacation once I got there. I feel guilty about that, but it was nice to have people to converse with.

Once 2011 started Billy has been going, going, going. He went from being a cute little lump to a ball of fire. In January he started on rice cereal, his first solids and could stand up. February brought vegetables and fruits, sitting unassisted, pulling up unassisted, standing and walking along furniture. March were his first ventures outside and he fell in love with being outside. By April he finally started sleeping through the night and started crawling. He also went on his first camping trip. May was more camping and the first trip to the beach and learning to whistle. In June he started clapping and finally got his first tooth. On July 4th he took his first steps. July also brought another trip to the ocean and his first plane ride. August was the month spent at the river house with Grandma. He learned to wave. He got moved up to the toddler room at daycare. And of course, he did a lot of swimming- no fear of the water. In Septmeber Billy started parrotting words. He hasn't said anything with meaning yet, but has repeated "byebye, Buddy, Ganma, thank you, God bless you".

Now you're caught up. This little synopsis excludes all of the little anecdotes of his life thus far, but read on for all of the little silly and wonderful things Billy does.