Has it really been a year?

I can't believe that tomorrow is Ezekiel's first birthday. It's gone so fast! Ok, the first 4 months were super slow. In some ways I'm sad... I don't feel like I have a little baby anymore. He said "dada" today for the first time! He said it about 5 or 6 times, it was so cute.

These pictures make me sad, for a few reasons. First, obviously, he was born too early and spent way too long in the hospital. Second, we didn't really get any good pictures of his first day of life. I think we were just so flustered, and I remember not feeling like I could ask to have his isolette opened up so I could get clear pictures. It didn't feel like we were allowed to act like he was ours because we weren't allowed to touch him or hold him. Nearly all the pictures are blurry and hard to see, or bad angles. We also didn't get any good "comparison" pictures, like of Ezekiel next to someone's hand, or with Daniel's wedding ring around his arm, etc. You know, normal preemie stuff. But I don't mean to complain. These pictures are from his first few hours. Daniel took them-- by the time I got to go see Zeke he was in his isolette.