One year ago today, Declan William arrived in this world and changed our lives forever. After 24 hours of hard labor, Declan made his appearance via an emergency c-section. I remember lying on the table, coming in and out of conciousness when I first heard his cries. Thomas brought him over to me and said "Look babe, you did it!" and I promptly vomited all over myself and passed out again. It wasn't until a few hours later when I was finally able to hold our new arrival. He had big, blue, almond-shaped eyes just like his daddy and his mommy's round belly. Fortunately, round bellies look better on babies than they do mommies, but that's another blog. Along with his blue eyes and buddha belly was a dark mop of hair, directly on the back of his head. Just like Billy Ray Cyrus circa 1993. Fortunately that soon changed to a head of blond hair. He spent most of his hours sleeping soundly, waking up long enough to demand food and gaze around the room.
Finally, after 5 days in the hospital the doctors let us take our new baby home. Thank god for
the grandmas who came out to lend a hand, we couldn't have done it without their help. The next 3 months flew by in a blur of sleepless nights, diaper changes, bottle feedings and navigating the world of parenting. Here are some of the most memorable milestones.
On February 2nd, the Chicago Bears lost the Superbowl but Declan smiled at me for the first time. I knew then that he was destined to cheer for the Minnesota Vikings. Nothing can match the feeling of having your child recognize your face and grinning from ear to ear for the first time. It made the physical pain of labor all worth it!
Right around the 4 month mark was when Declan's personality started to come through. Opinionated, curious, energetic and impatient. Quickly learning to roll from belly to back which eventually led to rolling his way from the living room to the kitchen. It's going to be a long 18 years.
At 6 months he learned to sit up and was crawiling by 8 months. Though it wasn't so much of a crawl as an "Army Crawl". At 9 1/2 months he decided crawling just wasn't going to get him from A to B fast enough so he began walking. And that's when the work really started. Now the challenge is keeping him off the stairs and out of the kitty litter box. This kid was born to move and nothing is going to stop him.
At 10 months Declan began learning his consonants. There is nothing cuter than "Baby Babble". His first words were DaDaDaDaDa............ We are still working on Mama! Declan loves the sound of his voice and he can often be found having "conversations" with any one of the 4-legged critters in the Folger household. In fact, I think it's time to find this kid some real friends.
What a year it's been. None of the baby books I read fully prepared me for being a mom. It's the most work I've ever done, but also the most fulfilling. I never knew how much joy I would get from teaching him to play "Pat-a-Cake", watching him sleep (especially when he sucks on his nuk that's no longer in his mouth) or dancing to Barney. I also never knew how much I would rally care about my child's poop. What color is it? When did he poop last? When will he poop again? When it comes to motherhood, it's the small things that matter.
Happy Birthday Little Monkey! I love you!
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