I did not expect to be up at the same time
this year as I was last year…right around 5:50am! That was when Evan finally decided to join us in the outside world (after 32 hours of trying to stay in!). This year I am up b/c Evan had a fever last night and so Mommy is on high-alert status. He made a very small sound at 5:30am on the monitor, which is behind a closed door with the volume turned up only slightly higher than normal, and b/c of my high-alert status…I’m insta-up. That’s ok…I thought it was kind of neat to lay in bed as the time ticked closer to the actual moment I became a Mommy and Evan changed our world forever. That is such a cliche thing to say I know, but is there really any other way to describe what happens when you go from your regular everyday self you’ve known your whole life to this new person? Sides of me came out in those first few weeks of Evan’s life I never knew existed. It is such a crazy time. I have two friends going through that time right now and reminding me just how emotional it can be.
Reflecting on this year (wondering if this will now become my new New Year’s Day…until the next one comes along)… it has been both warp-speed fast and agonizingly slow. Every age of Evan, like any baby, has had both its challenges and its sheer joys. I’ve never been so happy and in love with my family and so exhaustingly tired at the same time. If Evan slept well at night, which he still doesn’t, I think he would probably be too perfect. I think all babies have to come with some challenges just so you can learn what true, unconditional love really is. I think they also come with challenges so you finally realize just how much of a pain you were at multiple points in your life so you can finally thank your parents properly… thank you mom and dad!!
Evan, despite his sleep issues, is an easy baby. So easy, that the next one is probably going to sleep like a rock and be a complete terror. Let’s hope not, but it seems to work out that way sometimes. 
Anyway, I have had so much fun watching Evan’s little personality emerge. I remember being caught completely off guard one day when he was only a few weeks old. He had just had a bath and I was drying him off, when he looked up at me with this little glint in his eye and just grinned from ear to ear. And I don’t care what anyone says about how old they are supposed to be the first time they smile…this was a REAL smile, meant just for me, and that was the beginning of our happy go lucky little guy! By two months he was cheesing for the camera and I have a ridiculous number of photos to prove it! By the way, I know all of you already know we have a ludicrous number of pictures to prove every moment of the past year, and I will take the time now to publicly apologize for our blatant new-parent photo-taking and sharing mania. I’m sorry!! Just ignore us if we get too annoying. I will have to say though that I think all of my friends babies are just as adorable and I always look at every single picture they take with delight, so maybe it’s just a mommy thing and I’m only annoying my single and dual-income-no-kids friends.
But getting back to Mr. Social… I know I am lucky because yours-truly, Mommy Social, would not have survived the first year of SAHM-ness without being able to drag him all over the place to meet new friends and participate in all manner of activities. But I don’t think “drag” is really the right word. The older Evan gets, the more apparent it becomes, that the more days we have to stay at home by ourselves, the crabbier we both get. So many babies thrive on routine, but for Evan, variety is elixir of life. This in itself can be a challenge for me as I constantly need to come up with different things for him to eat and do to avoid the crankies…but given the alternative, and my own personality and need for creativity, I am extremely grateful.
Evan the baby is leaving us for Evan the toddler. Just writing that sentence creates all kinds of emotion in me…happy, sad, proud, amazed. I love you Evan! Happy Birthday!
BTW, in case you missed it and are interested, here’s a link to E’s birth story! 
