Summarising the last two years seems like an impossible task but I’m going to give it a go and I think the best way would be go over some of the things that stood out the most:
I clearly remember after Elias had been born there was mainly an overwhelming feeling of happiness and joy that this tiny person was actually here, & then during that evening from nowhere came that intense feeling of worry in full force that I’m sure every first time parent gets. Every little sound he made I was up looking at him to see if he was alright.
The most stand out moment in those early days was when we had just got home from the hospital. My wife and I were standing there and there was a feeling of “oh shit, this is down to us now.” I knew she was thinking the same thing too. It was almost as if while in the hospital you have all the health care professionals telling you what to do and when you’re home it’s suddenly up to you and that was quite a daunting feeling.
Of course the adjustment to having a small baby was challenging, but it was always broken up with so many moments of pure joy. I remember we would sit on the sofa with him, smiling and laughing at the littlest things he did. That’s the way I looked at it – for all the challenging times, there would be many more rewarding and happy times.
At this point I have to say that my wife is an absolutely incredible mother. As Elias is breastfed she was with him attached to her a vast majority of the time and I now truly appreciate what a huge undertaking that is and the commitment and love that takes should never be taken for granted. There are so many praises I need to give to her, but I feel that it deserves a whole post to itself.
As Elias got older it was at some point that this became normal life. I can’t remember at what point it changed or if we even noticed, but we had settled into our little family.
Big milestones for Elias like walking and saying his first words were awesome and seemed to progress at an incredible rate. Just when you’ve gotten used to a new thing they are doing something else. Although we quickly realised that even though we thought we had gotten everything out of arms’ reach from him, it wasn’t. So now the lower shelves are bare and everything is on the top, and I have to watch everything I say as somehow he knows to repeat the only words I’ve said that may not be best for him to say in public (no swear words though.)
I have also come to realise that toddlers have an innate ability to have an accident anywhere, in the most strange circumstances. Case in point: I had just given Elias a bath and was getting his moisturiser. He went into the kitchen and did a wee on the tiled floor, so when I called him over he slipped in his wee and banged his head on the floor. There we are, me trying to comfort him while he’s crying, wee all on his head and hair, needing another bath.
One of the things I’ve really liked seeing develop over the past year is his personality. It’s really an incredible thing to start seeing him develop into his own person, unobscured by too many outside influences…….the purest form of us maybe.
As his 2nd birthday is just round the corner I’m extremely excited about what the future holds for us.