I've learned:
- That you will survive those first few weeks, even if it's simply by living minute to minute.
- That "mother's instinct" isn't just a saying. I know what to do when others don't, even though I have no idea how I know.
- That I can do just about everything with one hand. Cook dinner, put on makeup, walk Buddy, you name it and I can probably do it while holding Kaitlin on my hip.
- That I will never be free from worry.
- That I get excited every single time I've been away and it's time to go home to her. I can only describe the feeling as something similar to how you felt when you had a crush on someone in high school and you got to see them in between classes. That same kind of emotion overtakes me every time I come home.
- That even though we don't get to sleep in past 7:30 anymore, I'm not tired when I see her shining face smiling at me from her crib.
- That before I exercised by running miles and miles. Now I do lots of slow walking, bending, lifting and carrying, and that still counts as a workout!
- That the trashy magazines I used to greedily devour the instant they hit my mailbox now sit untouched for weeks, and even then they are only "read" by Kaitlin and then torn to shreds.
- That even though I'm no longer pregnant or nursing, I still watch what I eat because Kaitlin always wants a bite and I should be setting a good example for a curious eater.
- That you shouldn't rush them to crawl, walk or talk, because once they start, they don't stop.
- That I will do and say silly things in public just to get a laugh from her.
- That I can read the same book to her every single night and not get bored because I see how much she enjoys it.
- That I am the world to her, and she to me.
- That even though it's her birthday, she gave me the best gift of all the day she was born.
Happy birthday sweet, sweet baby!
3 comments:
Summer,
This post is simply amazing. Julie and I have SOOOO much to look forward to. Your perspective in this list from the last year is worth more than all the Parenting magazines combined for prospective parents like us. It is simple and obviously sincere. Well done.
-RB
That's awesome...you make me even more excited to experience this all in the next year!!
Tears in my eyes! What wonderful thoughts; it is like one of those emails that gets forwarded around to all the mothers, but it is someone I know! :) Congratulations on a wonderful and adventurous year - you have an incredible baby girl to be so proud of! You and Scott are amazing parents!
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