(the photo we used on theo’s baby announcement… he was only six weeks old)

theo was born january 27, 2006 in amsterdam, the netherlands. overnight i was transformed from a regular person into a MOTHER, which is something else entirely. i am so grateful for that (despite the fact that i have never really slept properly since, my belly feels like memory foam, i am always at least a little bit worried [will he fall into a canal? will someone convince him to get into a white van? will he join a weird cult? will he start eating raisins? - which are DISGUSTING, of course! will he be a good husband? WHAT will he tell his therapist about me in his forties?] i am frequently exhausted and i have been dreading this birthday since the day he arrived.) it felt like he was a baby for a LONG time - maybe because he was not a good napper and we spent A LOT of awake time together.

(here we are about to embark on our first walk with theo - he was about a week old)

(another early outing)

(RARE moment that theo took a nap in his bed, rather than in the buggy or in my arms)

(first playdate with our baby group - he is the one HOWLING… maybe because he’s in a full sweater suit AND a wool hat and we are in a well-heated apartment…)

(same baby group a few months later… he looks much happier - he’s in the blue stripes - probably because i’ve eased up on the woolens)

(this is where he usually napped… i had to keep him rolling over all the cobblestones so he would stay asleep)

(first visit to berkeley - outside grandma and grandpa’s house)

(a bath with GG in grandma’s kitchen sink)

(first visit to the beach!)

(first time in a swimming pool - obviously we didn’t yet know about swim diapers)

(we did a lot of photo shoots when theo wasn’t napping)

(some of them he regrets…)

(we also did art projects)

(theo’s finished painting is in the background)

(hanging out with his oma poolside in great neck)

(getting ready for an overnight adventure with grandma and grandpa)

(he got a little sister…)

and then all of a sudden he looked like THIS:

(his senior portrait)

(homecoming with his two best buddies)

(dressed up as turkeys with hank)

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful baby who grew up overnight (and is now capable of sleeping EPIC amounts.) i love you higher than the sky is high and deeper than the ocean is deep. x0x0xx