LOGAN IS ONE!

My baby turned ONE yesterday!! I cannot describe the feelings I felt yesterday realizing I've actually been a mom for a whole year. It's one of those things where I felt like I just barely became a mom and I felt like I've been a mom forever all at the same time. When I think about how hard it is to be at work for most of the day and only see him for  a couple hours a night each weekday, it feels like it hasn't been a whole year. Maybe because I haven't spent a year of time with him. But when I think about how much he means to me, and how our lives changed when he came, it seems like that's been going on forever. Maybe that's because I've wanted a baby for a long time!

This year has been so awesome. I love being a mom. Something I didn't expect was a whole new insight into my job. If you didn't already know, I teach 2 1/2 year olds. They are the youngest class in our school, sometimes considered the "babies" of the school, but when I look at them and think "Logan will be there in another year and a half!" I'm amazed at the things he's going to learn in this next year of his life! Having my own child has helped me step into the parents in my class's shoes even better. Not to toot my own horn, but I think parent relations is one of my strong points and a part of my job I enjoy. I know I've always tried to put myself in their shoes and help them any way I can, but having Logan has helped me with that in ways I could've never imagined. I see these kids for a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of their lives. I know the things they "should" be able to do when they get to my class, I can tell who is behind in which areas, and who is ahead. I know how to teach, I know how to potty train (usually, they're no sure fire way to do it, but I usually potty train about 8 or 9 of them a year, depending on if they came in already trained). I know about this age, but the difference now is, I'm starting to know more about where they come from before they get to me. One of my biggest things in our classroom is promoting independence. It takes longer in the  beginning to get things done, but each kid tries to do everything from pulling up their pants, to opening things in their lunchbox, to cleaning up messes on their own before asking me for help. In the past I've been a little irritated with parents that don't try to cultivate the same independence at home, and I now realize that's very hard when this little boy/girl NEEDED you to do everything for them just 2 short years ago. It's hard to make all these transitions when you have to make a conscious decision that today is the day I'm going to let him dress himself. Or today is the day he's going to feed himself, regardless of the mess. Those are hard things, and I often just expect them to happen!! Obviously, Logan is no where near these points right now, but I'm so grateful for this one of many lessons he's taught me already. I can't wait to see what else I get to learn from him.

I was really going to write about my sweet boy more, I'm not sure how this post turned into a lesson in preschool teaching. Either way, I can't put into words how I feel about having a 1 year old, and how awesome and enriched my life has been in the last year because of him. I'm so lucky and so blessed.

(I don't really have 12 month pictures yet, so this will have to do!)

This weekend is his birthday party, and then a photo shoot with a smash cake on Sunday, so I'm excited to be posting about those things soon. Yay!