My baby boy fell asleep this afternoon holding my hand. Luckily I had the camera nearby so I could snap a quick photo of the sweetness, even if it was nearly impossible to achieve perfect focus one-handed with the shot. It's amazing to me how much those tiny little fingers have grown in just a year though...

The older our son gets, my husband and I have started to play a game called "spot the childless waiter / waitress" more and more frequently. It started when he was about six months old and just barely able to sit upright in his high chair. Nevermind that he was just starting out on stage 2 fruit and veggie jars — any time we'd go out and eat, a child's placemat and crayons were placed before him. We'd have to quickly explain that he was still on baby food and not quite ready to work on copying Monet's masterpieces with small, colored waxy objects.

Now that he's just over a year old, the game has escalated to include which server will place food and drink right in his path. Last weekend at Ruby Tuesday's, not only did the waiter place a plate that we were warned in advance was "too hot to touch" directly in front of the baby — said hot plate also included a knife resting on top. Yeah. I'm thinking the most time this waiter has ever spent alone with a 13-month old...is...ummmm...well, never. We're constantly scooping away glasses, silverware and dishes dropped off at his half of the table before those pudgy little fingers can fly out in all directions and grab whatever he can at lightning-speed. And make no mistake, it literally takes HALF the table to keep non-baby-proofed items out of his grasp.

Of course, the above-described game doesn't include the bonus round. Like the time we were checking out at Publix just over a month ago and the pimply-faced teen bagger asked if we'd like to keep the eggs in the front of the cart with the baby. Yes. Yes, we would. But only if you have a video camera on hand so we can win the ten-grand, and you plan on taking him home in your car, son!

The closer I get to the big birthdate, I find myself doing what a lot of other mothers-to-be do — watching baby shows (like "Birth Day" and "A Baby Story") non-stop in the afternoons. One I've recently got hooked on is Discovery Health's "The Baby Lab". I swear when this show is on, I must pause and run over to kiss my son's forehead at least a dozen or more times with tears streaming down my cheeks. It just continually amazes me how we were travelling down one road feeling all sorts of lost, I paused for a little cat nap, and woke up in a destination I could have only dreamed of shortly after we set out on our initial journey...

Ok, talk amongst yourselves. I'm a little verklempt.

hormones.