Sunday, December 29, 2013

13 months

Being a parent is tough.  All we want is to hold our children close, love, them, protect them, and never let them go.  And all the while, we are teaching them how to be self-sufficient, independent, and capable so they can leave us one day and survive in the world on their own.  We are constantly teaching them, guiding them, loving them, then stepping back and watching them try it on their own.  We strive to provide a sense of security, hope, joy and the strength of solid roots.  All while encouraging curiosity, exploration, dreams, and a desire to reach for the stars.  We give them wings so they can fly, soaring on their own towards their goals, smiling through tears as they leave our homes, but never our hearts.


Each new day with Emma brings a renewed sense of what a big responsibility, and huge honor, it is to be parent.  I want endless snuggles and to hold her all day, while also encouraging her to be independent and separate from me, testing her abilities and discovering things on her own.

This past month has been an incredible one!  She saw, really saw, her first snow fall and was so amazed by it!  Oh, the sweet look of utter joy and fascination by something as simple as the bright flakes of white swirling down from the sky!  I wish the snow has stayed longer than those 6 or 7 days, she loved looking at it, and she would for a long time each day, and wanted to be outside touching it, tasting it, smelling it.  Her second Christmas has come and gone. Wow! Really?! Have we really celebrated her second Christmas?!  How impossible it seems!

She loved the lights, the tree, the ornaments.  Every morning, when we come out to the living room, she smiles, points to the tree, and, in her adorable 13 month old voice joyfully says; "tree!"  I love it!!!!  We did not have to worry about only decorating the top half of the tree, she mostly just touched the branches and ornaments gently, never pulling anything off the tree and would lean in and smell the branches. We did not have to hide the presents or only put them out on Christmas Eve either.  She picked up a gift or two, but never tore into the wrapping and always put it down when asked.  We are lucky, no, scratch that, lucky is not the right word, we are blessed with our little girl.  Blessed beyond any reason.  Blessed beyond measure.


Watching her grow into her own, amazing little girl, separate from mom and dad, is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching, all at the same time.  Parenting is not for the faint of heart, the self-absorbed, the lazy.  No, parenting is tough, stay-at-home or full/part-time working outside the home. It take love, patience, understanding, empathy, time, caring, and did I mention love?  It is an incredible calling, a profound an honor, and a precious gift.

I love being a mom!!!

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