W Day is Approaching--let's see how much he's changed...

As we approach W-Day (the day William was born), I've been reflecting a lot about the past year. I still marvel at how big and active he is now, and it still amazes me that he is the same person who was a tiny little baby just a few months ago.

I know this might sound strange, but I really do love William more now than I did then. I loved him when he was new, but I think it was a more abstract love. I loved him then because I was his mother, because he had grown in my belly, and he was mine. It is somehow more instinctive for me to love him now than it was when I first met him face to face. Now I love him because he is William. He is silly and cheerful and cranky and sleepy and wide-awake, and he "kisses" my cheek and throws chunks of banana on the floor. He grows and changes and does new things every day. One day, the William I know and love had a tooth and was saying "cat." Then, a couple of weeks later, the William I know and love had two teeth and was saying "duck." He'll be doing something else soon, and I will love him then. As cliched as I know it sounds, I really do love him more each day. (That doesn't mean that I like picking up pieces of banana off the floor all the time, of course.)

But it's still fun to remember what he was like Back Then (remember being the key word, since I wouldn't actually like to be that sleep-deprived again).

Let's play Compare and Contrast, shall we?

David giving William his sippy cup this evening (or rather, William sprawled out all over David as he drank his sippy cup on his own):



















And here's a picture, taken last May, of David giving William one of his very first bottles:



















David pretty much looks the same, from what I can tell. Maybe the circles under his eyes were darker in May. William is three times the size he was in that May picture.

Let's contrast Baby William with Big Boy William some more.

Baby William, just a few weeks old:




















Big Boy William, just last weekend in San Diego:




















He's put a little meat on those old bones, hasn't he?



Baby William last spring with his mommy:















William this spring with his mommy:

































Okay, I'm having a really good time with this. This is fun!

Last April...


















This April...



















In this picture, we have David holding his brand new son, who just arrived home from the hospital the previous day:



















New Baby William with his kitty cat Corky:



















A more current picture of father and son. Here, David helps William put on the preppy shoes that are part of his Grandaddy Aaron Wyckoff ensemble:





































And just so you can see...William has far outgrown the cats. Poor Corky. She didn't know how good she had it back then. She knows now. Yet, for some reason, she still hangs around with William, as if drawn to him against her better judgment. Here's a more recent picture of William with Corky (they were watching out the patio door for hummingbirds in the honeysuckle):




















Hard to believe it's the same baby! But I think you can still tell.

The little prince--the Early Days:




















A Portrait of the Little Prince the next spring: