The growing brain

My baby will be a year old in February (where did this last year go???), and the existence of an actual brain hidden beneath his fuzzy hair is starting to show just a bit. He has a few sort-of words-- "up-up-up" when he wants to be picked up, "uh-oh" when he picks something up (presumably he picked that one up from my reaction when he grabs stuff!), "bye-bye," "hi." The usual cute baby words. Plus the other day he did something that made me realize he really is getting smarter. I was dressed up for church and wearing a necklace-- something I almost never wear. I picked him up and played "wave hi to the baby in the mirror." He stared at us in the mirror for a long moment, then suddenly whipped around and grabbed the necklace. Obviously he recognized the reflection as a reflection, rather than as some other baby and mommy. That's the first time I've been pretty certain he actually understood that concept.

Babies are truly amazing little critters. Sigh... too bad this is my last one. We're having his first birthday party this weekend, and although it's not truly his birthday quite yet, I can't help but feel The End Of An Era pressing down on my shoulders. No more babies for me...