525,600 minutes."Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred minutes, Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand moments so dear. Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year?" It is the opening verse in the song "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent and I have to admit, it is the perfect question for today.
As I sit and ponder the question posed in that song, I think of ways to measure a year. Is it the number of smiles? Is it the milestones we have passed already? Is it even the days that we have counted off? Or is it maybe just love?
One year ago a little bundle of joy arrived. It was a bumpy ride, but in the end we had a happy, healthy baby of our own. Only another parent can truly understand the feelings that Kelly and I had at that moment. That point in time where nothing else matters. This child is the number one focus in our lives from this day forward. There were many questions in our heads. Doubts too. How would we raise this baby girl? How will we provide for her? Now what do we do?
We figured it out, and it didn't even take us long to learn it. The answer was simple. Love her. It was all we needed to do. How can we show this innocent little girl that we love her?
We held her. We hugged her. We kissed her. We cuddled her. We talked to her. We sang to her. We smiled at her. We fed her. We rocked with her. (Oh how we miss the rocking with her.) We soothed her during illness and teething. We gave her toys. We read her books. We gave her clothes. We played with her. We helped her learn to roll over, sit up, crawl, stand and walk. We showed her how to climb the stairs. We showed her how to get down the stairs. We gave her baths. We played during bath time. We taught her to clap and give high fives. We showed her how to wave and to blow kisses. We taught her how to hold up one finger when we ask "how old is Teagan."
She smiles. She claps. She squeals with delight when we see her. She hugs us. She kisses us.
Love... unconditional, unending.
We promise to keep doing what we have been doing. To show you that we love you every moment through the year.
Happy birthday baby girl.
Mommy and Daddy love you.
What a wonderful post! Turning 1 is so much fun!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to look back at the first year, to see how much we've learned as first time parents. It's unbelievable and moving! It really changes us and how we view the world. Congrats on your baby girl (who will always be your BABY) Turning 1 year old!!!!
Happy Birthday Teagan!
Love Aunt Jen, Uncle Tim & Cousin Molly