I was welcoming our new baby boy to our tiny little low-rent upstairs apartment. I was a young twenty year old mother, and my then boyfriend had just turned 22. We were excited. Not near as clueless as you would think. We took all the classes that were offered. We took turns with everything. D would get up and change the baby, and when the baby was fresh and dry I would get up and feed the baby. Our little beautiful baby seemed so peaceful and he just slept all of the time.
One week old
While we made the newbie mistake of thinking of all this sleeping as being a sign that things would be easy instead of reading into that he hated being swaddled as a sign that there will be no holding him back.
Now he is five.
Five years, and the frosting to prove it.
He is not peaceful. He is strong-willed. He is argumentative. He is sweet at times. He is very smart. He is oblivious. He is hyper, silly, imaginative, loud, excited most of the time. He is loving, he is mean, and he is creative. He is so many things I could have never imagined, or prepared for. Most of all, no matter how scary or frustrating, he is my heart outside of my chest walking around and leaping off of furniture.
There are so many things you hear about being a parent. No one ever mentions the fact that no matter how many books you read, how many classes you take, or how much advise is given you can’t be prepared for everything that will come at you.
Five years always seemed so long before him, now it seems like time is something that is limited.
I look forward to see the changes in him in the future.
Happy Birthday my wiggly Eli.
travelswithminis 