Month 12: A Billion Pennies

If I had a penny for every time I thought to myself "I couldn't possibly love Daniel more than I do in this moment", I'd be rich. I am absolutely blown away at what having a kid has done to me, and my ability to focus on something besides myself.

Fernando and I were talking about this last night - how as a person grows up, layers of selfishness get stripped away. (It's just a theory... humor me...) As babies and young kids, we are 100% focused on ourselves. As teenagers we're still selfish, but we've started to notice the world around us more - friends, love interests, maybe even family. As single adults, we might not realize it, but we're still very self-focused in that everything revolves around our plans, our schedule, our life. Once we're married, we learn to put another human before ourseleves, but even that doesn't compare to what happens after a baby is born.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that parents are better people than non-parents, I'm just saying that by necessity, your life is turned upside down in the pursuit of completely caring for another human being. It's fun and exciting and I wouldn't change a minute of it, but that kind of constant unwavering devotion is just not something that's asked of you before having a child. And surprisingly, I don't feel like I have lost any of myself in the process. If anything, I feel more myself than I ever have before - more at home in this role than any prior role.

Daniel's walking, by the way. Started a week after he turned one - he just decided it was time and took off across the room. Within two days he was very confident, and now strongly prefers walking to crawling. Sometimes he still gets excited and those little legs gain a little too much momentum, but I think that will happen for a while still.

Fernando's birthday was last weekend and we got him a giant camping tent (for 7 people so Daniel's pack-n-play fits!). We're going on our first family camping trip this Summer. I couldn't be more excited - Daniel loves the outdoors, sleeps very well in his travel crib, and is obsessed with the pet door on the tent. In and out, in and out.

Even more fun than watching Daniel's physical development is watching his mental growth - his personality is budding before our eyes. He has a great sense of humor - and has started doing things with the sole purpose of making us laugh: funny faces while eating, putting our mixing bowls on as hats, splashing huge in the tub. He is also extremely polite. If he drops something, he picks it up. If we ask him to bring us something and point to it, he goes and gets it and hands it over without question. He seems to derive a lot of joy from making us happy - helps us unload the dishwasher by handing us one plate at a time - will go through his entire lego bucket, handing us one lego at a time just to hear us say "thank you". His teachers at school say he's extremely polite - always shares - and never throws a fit if a toy gets taken away from him.

It's an amazing feeling - pride in your child - because of who they're becoming. My friend had his son's parent teacher conference yesterday, and the teacher had no complaints or corrections - just praises for a well-behaved little boy who was quickly becoming a class leader. Naturally, my friend was extremely proud of his son, and I can only imagine how that kind of praise makes a parent feel.

Fernando and I constantly pray for Daniel's character - that we are able to provide a strong foundation for him to be a man of God from an early age. That no matter what trials he comes up against in life, he will not waiver in his faith, and his character will be unshaken. Like the prophet he was named for - clear in his priorities, respectful to everyone, talented in his profession ... "This man Daniel ... has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means."

Amen!