1 year old adventures

So we've had quite an August around here. A true summer month, 1 year old style. Very heavy on the exploration (boxes! the dishwasher!) and shenanigans with some wobbly steps, kiddie pools, park time, walks, drives, toys, and snacks thrown in...I feel like I should let the pictures do the talking. Here's what Ashton and his sometimes sidekick Tate have been up to:

(photo credit: Lizzy Flanagan)

And there's more where those came from. I have to remind myself that there's only so many pictures people want to see of ONE baby and ONE dog. I overdid it on this post didn't I. Well there's this cool new collage website I'm trying to get the hang of so that's my excuse. Pbbbthhhh.

I have to end with this photo - we had a particularly long travel day a couple of weeks ago and when we got home, we popped Ashton in his car before bed for his usual "drive" around the block. He was so tired he fell asleep at the wheel and Jason had to carry him the rest of the way home.

Now, a lot of my comments on this blog are a tad sarcastic in a desperate attempt to be funny and retain readers. So I apologize in advance for the reverence, but this photo melts my heart into the deepest, sweetest puddle imaginable. This could be my second glass of wine talking, but looking at my husband holding our little boy in the sinking sunlight reminds me of how much I have to be grateful for and really, isn't that what life is all about? Small moments of clarity when we otherwise are letting the days just blur on by? (If Chicken Soup for the Soul wants to quote me on that, please consider this permission.) But time really does pass -  in the 388 days that Ashton has been alive, I've basically been with him all day, every day and now there are 8 of those days left until I go back to work full time. 8. Eight.  That's why I need that picture, to remind me how lucky I've been, no matter what the future holds.