It’s hard to believe that our baby, Anastasia, was born one month ago. In a way, it feels like she was born yesterday. At the same time, it feels like she’s been a part of our lives for so long now.
Gone are the days of my husband taking care of dirty diapers in the middle of the night. Gone are the days where it’s acceptable for me to order Chinese delivery or pizza instead of making dinner or to pawn off the endless chores on Josh.
In their place are days of taking advantage of any moment our sweet baby is sleeping or content in her swing to accomplish all the tasks on my to-do list. Now there are days of longing for a regular hygiene routine and nights where I alternate between feedings, changing diapers and nightmares of extreme diaper blow-
outs.
Despite the crazy, these are the best days I’ve ever experienced. I learn something new every day just by watching Anastasia learn. I find myself able to see all the small things I’ve always taken for granted for all their value. In the same way, things I once valued dearly seem completely meaningless now.
With Christmas just around the corner and a long trip back to Iowa ahead of us, I expect we’ll see the changes that accompany a baby much more clearly.
And while I spend my days debating whether I’d rather freeze time as it is now or skip forward to see how she turns out, she’s growing before me constantly. Her baby blue eyes are slowly turning green. Her sounds are morphing from those of a newborn to an infant cooing. Before I realize what’s happened, she’ll be
grown.
For now, I’ll do my best to love each sleep-deprived, chaotic minute of it and try to soak up all the things she has to teach me. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to teach her something, too.