8,700+ hours

To think that it was one whole year ago when our little bomba emerged, opened his eyes and mouth and let out a big newborn "whaaaa." A year. The 365 day calendar that dictates our lives in one way or another, that helps us celebrate holidays, make appointments, relish weekends and in most geographic locations, indicate climate and potential weather. It is sort of a wierd arbitrary thing though when you think about it: basing our lives on 12 months, 365 days, a little over 8,765 hours. And to think that I have literally spent probably a total of over 8,700 hours of this year with my son, my first child. Some may call this spoiled. To others it is labeled attachment parenting. To me it just feels natural. I have literally observed these hours of my guy's life in wonderment and awe, and most of the time in blissful glee. All who get to know him remark on his cute personality and the joy it brings them to literally just watch him. Even total strangers remark that he is a "cute baby" and find pleasure in acknowleding him because he acknowledges them first with his bucky tooth infectious smile. On our flight back from Maine we were seated in row 17, the last row of the airplane, next to the lavoratory. Ick. Or so I thought. Turned out it was a blessing in disguise because it kept Eddie busy throughout the flight as the in-flight entertainment; every person that walked by to go to the toliet received a playful smile from Eddie and every person smiled back. Babies truly bring out the best in everyone. People are nicer to you while waiting in lines and make small talk like never before. Even grown men will strike up a conversation with him. At first it sort of annoyed me, but now I realize that it is just because my guy is too darn cute, and therefore impossible to ignore.

Observing Eddie is all I do. And I feel so lucky. As both of his grandmothers have recently exclaimed, it is so much fun just watching him, just watching him do simple things like eat and play. Is that true about all babies? Not sure. Maybe. All we know is that Eddie has developed into a really fun baby and truly a happy baby. I no longer worry that he is an introvert - his social skills seem very keen as he passionately interacts with babies and adults alike. He is now clapping his hands in joy, pointing at objects and photos and is even laughing at appropriate times in adult conversations. Today he heard two Chinese women having a conversation and sat there listening intensely for several minutes, as if to acknowledge that it was another language. I was impressed. I cannot wait until his "da"s turn into words and ultimately phrases and sentences. He says "ma ma ma" when he wants something, like to be fed or picked up by me. He seems to know "dada" too but for some reason his syllable of choice to express anything whatsoever when he is playing is "da" so it is hard to tell whether he makes the association with his daddy, unless in his mind daddy=play, which is true most of the time. He is a major explorer and loves to crawl on all surfaces, even rocks and brick and sand - we met a year old baby today who is walking yet will only walk on carpet - weird. Eddie has no tactile issues, that is for sure.

He still does not sleep through the night, waking typically once but goes back to sleep easily after some boob. And he is still taking two naps a day and showing no signs of wanting to eliminate the morning nap, actually that one is the only one I can really count on. He loves to eat and truly eats everything - black beans, lobster, arugula and eggplant are some of the recent foods. Because of his chompers, he can eat things whole like corn on the cob and today he ate a whole peach. But what he really loves to do is play...and he plays hard, with bruises to show for it. Loves his little backyard pool, balls, and anything with wheels. For the past couple of months whenever he plays with trucks or cars he makes a car noise...crazy, how do boys just know how to do that?

Weirdly I am not very reflective these days, not very emotional about motherhood or that my baby is now a toddler. Sometimes I think it is part of having a boy - it makes you strong. Sometimes I wonder if it is because of his natural birth and my ability to withstand the pain of labor. I find myself looking ahead, levelheaded with an internal strength and filled with excitement for what this next year will bring...another 8,700+ hours of observation...wow.