1 Year (Whew!)

1 Year
20lbs 12oz, 25 inches

He uses sign language. Sticks out his tongue to be silly. He waves "bye-bye." He likes to dance and clap his hands to music. He walks by pushing furniture around the room. He can identify: books, light, tree and fan by pointing when asked where each is in the room. He eats marvelously, his only aversion seems to be cucumbers. We've discovered he is already willful. When scolded for dropping his food over the side of the booster seat onto the floor, he will "fake" us out by quickly holding his hand out to the side & then drawing it back in. He will do this 2 or 3 times in rapid succession. I have to turn away from him b/c I can't help laughing so hard at this blatant psyche-out. And yes, he is finally sleeping (mostly) through the night. Can ah getta an "amen"?

It's been a year. Some say it went quickly, and in theory I suppose that's true. It did, in its own way, fly by. But in many ways it also seemed endless. Steve and I agree: It's not been an easy 12 months. So many sleepless nights while juggling our work schedules, our commutes, our classes, mustering our last bit of strength to be nice to each other, often trading our sanity for it all. But he rewards us with so much. Zach is, by all accounts, a character. He knows when he is being funny (it's really uncanny), and he invents his own games to play with you. When he picks you to play next, you can't help but feel special--like he's let you into his little world.

I confess that when we first discovered we were expecting again, I was concerned. I was overwhelmed with sadness that attention would already be diverted away from Zach while he was still so little & needs so much. It didn't seem fair to him. It didn't seem fair that for the first year of his life we were consumed by getting him to sleep while balancing his care with our work schedules. I was anxious for the day to come when we were over the infant hump, when we could take Zach on family outings & offer him more substantive life experiences--museums exhibits, baseball games, park visits, movies.

But dear friends and family reminded me: We are giving him a wonderful gift. The gift of a sibling. Something I never had, and something for which Steve is very thankful that he did. And while the first years will be challenging (um, I am understating here, I realize ...), it will be twice the fun visiting the museums, the baseball games, the parks, the movies. Twice the memories.

And to satisfy my wish to spend diversion-free (mostly) time with Zach, I have resigned at the magazine. My last day is June 1. It's a bittersweet decision.

But twice as worth making.


(And since it's been a while since I've posted, here are a few photos to get everyone up to speed ...)


First Thanksgiving




First Xmas


First Snow


Daddy's Little Helper


Silly Boy


Hamming it Up


The Fam