It's happened. I have officially reached the "I can't remember my life before Daniel" stage. What in the world did I do with all that time?!He is at a high-maintenance stage, no doubt, but it's also the absolute most fun we've ever had. He is a little ball of energy - a pit bull that just tears through the day with that classic combination of vigor and sticky hands. And when one of those sticky little hands reaches out to touch your face, the day's worry and stress simply evaporate.
Our roles as parents become more solidified daily (of course in the biological sense, they were pretty much solidified from day one). It's different now though - Daniel consistently responds to us with joy. Just walking in his room to get him after a nap, or a day at daycare - his smile is so big it about cracks his face, his little hands ball up into fists and his arms shake with excitement, and he crawls un-humanly fast to get to where we are. Eliciting that kind of reaction from another human being is a powerful thing - it's medicine to the soul.
It's pretty amazing how discipline doesn't affect Daniel's devotion to us. We're working hard to be consistent with our "no's" and with how we correct him. He responds well, and doesn't hesitate to come play with us affectionately right after we are stern with him. I suppose it's true, how children not only need discipline, but they also desire it so as to more completely know their place in the world.
Playtime has gotten more fun too - Daniel LOVES to be chased and startled. Lately, we've all spent a lot of our time on our knees, chasing each other around the couch, under the table, and around the recliner (usually 3 or 4 times). The fun is well worth the rugburn, and just in the past few days, Daniel has learned to chase US. It's fascinating to watch him learn to play by watching us play. Last night he was around the corner from me, and he'd poke his head out to see me and shriek in laughter, then quietly duck his head back in hiding, then poke it out again. Over and over... exactly like we do to him all the time.
And he's finally mastered "peek a boo". He started learning in Texas, when after a bath, he'd pull a towel over his face and then pull it back down for "peekaboo". But I guess he thought the game was just about raising his arms over his head, and dropping them... not about covering his face. (It was pretty cute though, to say "where's Daniel!?" and have him giggle and lift his arms up high and throw them down on his legs!)
A lot of things haven't changed - he's still big and strong and growing up way too fast. He still obsesses over fruit (strawberries and pineapples, mainly) and will only go to sleep if he has a rhino/turtle/giraffe ear safely in his mouth. He still breaks my heart daily, with that toothy/nose-scrunchy/eye-squinty grin, and we still marvel at how stinking handsome he is.
We're coming up on his one year birthday faster than I'd like to admit, and while it's exciting and certainly an occasion to celebrate, I can't help but feel sad at how quickly this first year went by. I find myself wishing we could all just hang out here - in this first year - just a little bit longer. I suppose that happens with each passing year... until around age 13 or 14, from what I'm told. :)
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