Happy Birthday, Brian

Brian is fighting a nasty cold right now. For the past two nights, he's been awake every hour, crying and coughing, and looking for some comfort. During the day, he's cranky and exhausted, constantly rubbing his red eyes and runny nose. He falls asleep in his high chair with a cheerio in his chubby little hand, but when he tries to take a nap in his crib, the coughing startles him awake, and his sobs begin again.

But tonight, as I sat in his rocker and gave him his bedtime bottle, I cuddled up with my baby boy and marvelled at all the changes that have taken place over the last year. We certainly had a few rough patches, beginning with a difficult delivery in which the spinal anesthesia didn't-quite-work. His few nights in the hospital with reflux, his awful bout with RSV, and his not-so-good-sleeping habits made those first six months seem very, very long. But the last 6 months have flown by, and we have thoroughly enjoyed watching him learn to roll over, crawl, stand up and cruise, wave bye-bye, clap his hands, and eat his first solid foods. He's certainly changed quite a bit from that little blue-eyed newborn baby boy that I held for the first time one year ago today. Still groggy from the general anesthesia, I couldn't quite believe that this little boy with jet-black hair could really be ours.

But tonight, when my not-so-little baby boy with his blond hair trimmed into a big-boy haircut fell asleep drinking his bottle, I put him over my shoulder and spent a few extra minutes enjoying the feel of my sleeping baby's breath on my cheek. And I realized that, while my son has certainly grown and changed over the last year, he's still the same cuddly little boy that I fell in love with last November 14th.

Happy Birthday, Brian. I love you.