What a year! Confucius says: Try your best to avoid doing all that we have done in the past year and you will have much less gray hair.
Wow! Time seems to fly by faster when you are a parent. We can't believe that it has been a year since Maya was born and Elizabeth has had an undisturbed 8 hours of sleep. For me, it has been an amazing experience as a dad to watch my daughter grow and my wife blossom into an amazing mom.... and all this amidst a tumultuous year of drastic change.
Maya has been a great daughter, Praise God! and has adapted quite well to all the changes we have gone through in the past year. It has been a privilege to watch her grow and develop from a sleepy baby to an active toddler with a serious personality, a flair for mischief (inherited from her mom, of course), a hint of shyness (from me) and a stubbornness (from both of us) that keeps us praying every night.
To be honest, my life has certainly changed but not as dramatically as Elizabeth's. I, thankfully, sleep like a bear in winter (probably snore just as loud as well) and have not lost a lot of sleep. In the morning, I usually wake up with a tiny hand or a smelly butt in my face. If I'm up early enough, I get to change the first diaper of the morning and then head off to catch my shuttle to work. In the evening, as I pull into the garage and step into the house I am usually welcomed by an excited 'grunt' and really the only time she ever raises her arms at me to carry her... my heart absolutely melts when she does that. We play around a bit before bedtime and then it is off to bed for the little princess, where she is on what we call 'vibrate mode' for about 30 to 40 minutes before falling asleep. 'Vibrate mode' is where she sits or lays still like she is asleep but makes a buzzing noise like a cell phone on vibrate. Yes, we know it sounds weird but it always puts a smile on our face no matter how long the day has been. Weekends are especially exhausting. I have no idea how Elizabeth has the energy to keep up with Maya the entire day, every day. I am convinced that I could never be a stay-at-home dad.
Being a dad is a huge responsibility, one that requires patience, an openness to change and the ability to let go of self. I don't have any of those qualities. My life continues to change daily and sometimes I feel like I'm miserably failing as a husband, a dad and a professional. Thank God my wife and daughter are so patient with me! I just keep telling myself, one day at a time. One year down, another one to look forward to...
Uh oh! My princess is up from her nap and I have to go get her... God Bless!
