Oh, Happy Day!!

With both of the older boys, their two-year-old birthdays were bittersweet times. I was happy to see them grow up, but I mourned the time that flew by so fast. Of course, I was incredibly busy while I was raising my first two. I was a night-student and hugely pregnant when First Born turned two, and then I had two kids and I was a full-time student when Middle Child turned two.

With Wee One it has been different, though. I don't feel as though I'm mourning anything. I've had the opportunity to stay-at-home with him since he was born, and I spaced him and Middle Child out enough that I've only had to focus my attention and energy on him for 8 hours of the day. I've enjoyed every single minute of him being little.

While he was a teeny tiny infant, I held him for hours and hours. I gazed into his eyes as he gazed into mine, and we cooed back and forth to each other. Then, when he decided to crawl (at the young age of four months), I enjoyed sitting back and watching him learn. I played with him on the floor while he couldn't move too far, and I took great pleasure in teaching him the names of the objects that he looked at. I enjoyed the lightness of my arms and being free from the pain that was no longer radiating through out my spine from carrying him around every single minute of the day, too.

A little later, when he was 11-months-old, he learned to walk. I enjoyed watching him get up, wobble around a little, and cautiously take his first steps. I loved watching the pure joy that spread across his face as he learned the new skill. I drank in every single minute of it as though I were thirsty and it were the last time I would ever drink a glass of water. I understood that all of these moments were ephemeral.

I haven't always been thrilled with the fact that Wee One has been racing to catch up with his older brothers, but I haven't mourned any time lost like I did with the first two. I've been blessed beyond words to have had this amazing opportunity to stay at home with him, and while it hasn't been easy, because I like to work and I enjoy adult conversation, I will never regret these years.

My sweet baby is turning two and I couldn't be happier for him!

Happy Birthday, Wee One!!