The Difference a Year Makes

Last year at this time I was still very much in survival mode. I remember the one time I tried to blog, (shirtless, dripping, and crying might I add...not to gross you out) I wrote one sentence. Yup. As wise and articulate I'm sure that post was, I never published it (hmm). As much as everyone said that having a baby changes your life and as hard as I'd heard it was, nothing could prepare me for actually doing it. I've heard of experiments where people listen to a tape of a baby crying for one or two minutes and when it's over say that it was ten minutes long. Oh my, how true that is. Except in the beginning, Emma really cried ALL THE TIME (poor baby had acid reflux). And I didn't have a car. Or many friends around that didn't work. And Matt was working full-time, finishing his Master's, and studying for his CPA. Wow. What a difference a year makes. Then Emma was a demanding set of lungs that pooped (a LOT) and slept (here and there). Now she's a sweet, silly toddler (who still poops a LOT and sleeps a little more) who has her mom and dad wrapped around her fuzzy-finding fingers.

I love how she's changed our lives. People fear missing out on things by having children, but I really can't think of a single thing I've missed out on. We do all the things we did before, but now we also have her, which is faaarrr greater than I ever thought. I've also heard people say that it's hard to explain how much you'll love your child. A year ago I didn't understand that. Of course I loved her then, but man did she cry a lot.

Now I just love watching her learn new things. She loves birds; who notices every time a bird chirps but a one year old? She made progress today on using a spoon. It was so funny to watch her serious little face as she worked hard to get the oatmeal on the spoon and into her mouth. I mean, it was as if she was working through a Calculus problem (not that I would know what that's like). The world is just so new to her and she's finally getting to the point where she loves to explore it. And we're finally to the point where we seem to get this whole parenting thing (ha!). So, is it crazy to start talking about having another, or is that just how things work? Once you get into the swing of things, everything changes? That seems like one of those consistent inconsistencies of life. Ahhh, what to do, what to do...