The birth process for first time parents is a scary, daunting, and ultimately beautiful experience. The fact that two people come together to create this wonderful being is a miracle in itself. At first you are exhausted, relieved, happy, overjoyed, elated, excited, and terrified. Not to mention completely oblivious to the reality that is about to strike you in the face like Troy Polamalu on an opposing quarterback.
You get home unsure, unsteady, nervous, and completely unprepared for the first few weeks. Sleep becomes a luxury best served in a chair, couch, or on the floor when you can get it. You see people come and go from your house but really are oblivious to their presence because you are still shocked by the entire scenario unfolding in front of you. You are changing diapers slowly and poorly leading to leaks, stains, and extra laundry. You look at a clock and deny that time is actually moving because you don't really relate to the time anymore...you just know that when that baby cries they need changed, food, or mom and dad.
Those days and weeks begin to blend together into an incomprehensible blur until one morning you wake up and realize that your child just slept 6, 8, or 12 straight hours. Suddenly you have your sanity back, your life back, your focus back. You can change a diaper with one hand while replacing the pacifier with the other. You know your babies cries and know when he is hungry, sad, scared, and when he is just crying because he is a baby. Life is better, the child looks up to you and smiles, he knows who daddy and mommy are and there is nothing greater.
More weeks pass, and now the house is filled with laughter, giggling uncontrollably until hiccups overtake the belly laugh. The child grows in weight, in length and begins to take on a personality all their own. Mom sees dad in him and dad sees mom, both agree that he is amazing. Suddenly one day he rolls over because being on his back must be boring.
Then the crawling begins, time to baby proof the house, protecting him from his own curiosity. Mom and dad encourage him to pull to stand, to play, to grow. Soon the child is motoring all over the house, end to end and getting into everything he can find. Bumped heads and falls are accompanied by an unsure cry or a look to mommy and daddy to make sure he is ok. Then one day he stands and holds on to nothing, staring back at you with the most excited smile a child can have.
Your child exudes pride on a level that you didn't think was possible. Every small accomplishment is greeted with cheering and applause by us as parents. He smiles uncontrollably waiting for your approval with each time he stands or figures out some simple puzzle that just yesterday confounded him. You wait for the day when he walks on his own, ignoring the warnings of friends who tell you that it spawns a whole new curiosity and adventure.
What a difference a year makes. From our humble beginnings as wide eyed first time parents to the confident but still sometimes unsure beings we've become Christine and I have grown as parents and as a couple. Watching our son grow up has brought us a level of joy and satisfaction that can not be put into words. He is everything wonderful that we see in each other, yet he is still his own amazing little being with a wonderful developing personality and soul. His sense of humor never ceases to amaze us and we know that he find himself to be one of the funniest people he knows. His endless babbling and yapping brings a smile to our faces, and he can melt your heart with a simple Ma Ma or Da Da.
In our first year together:
We have changed 2,200 diapers.
We have made and served 10,950 ounces of milk (breast or formula)
We have done well over 120 loads of laundry for one tiny little boy.
We have gone through countless numbers of AA and AAA batteries.
We have lost more sleep than we want to think about.
We have washed/sterilized 1800 bottles.
We have crawled on the floor
We have become cheerleaders for our son's smallest accomplishments.
We have realized a love that is present from birth.
We are no longer grossed out by dirty diapers.
We should have bought stock in Similac.
We learned that Sam's Club diapers are so much cheaper, and just as good.
We have consumed somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000 cups of coffee.
We have chased and played on a level that brings us back to our own childhood.
We have experienced illness, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and a few Dr. visits.
We have learned that daycare isn't a scary place.
We have loved every minute of it...ok maybe not loved every minute, but we wouldn't take any of them back.
Today we get to wish our son a Very Happy 1st Birthday! We wish you all the successes, accomplishments, and joy that you deserve. To the first of many happy birthdays, We love you Noah!
-Love
Mom and Dad
"May you always have...
A sunbeam to warm you.
Good Luck to charm you.
A sheltering angel
so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to cheer you,
and Faithful friends near you.
And, whenever you pray,
heaven to hear you."
"May you always have...
A sunbeam to warm you.
Good Luck to charm you.
A sheltering angel
so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to cheer you,
and Faithful friends near you.
And, whenever you pray,
heaven to hear you."
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