How do we have a one-year old? And how am I supposed to sum up a year’s worth of joy in one solitary blog entry. Whatever it is they say about the joys of parenthood is true. I can corroborate that a lifetime of joy has already been infused into our lives, concentrated into one little 21lb package we named Eli about a year ago. With every day comes a new noise, a new babble, a new gesture, a new look, a new skill, a new something that he’s either figure out on his lonesome or that we as parents have imparted unto him. But these new discoveries are outrageously exciting to behold and I pinch myself every other minute that I get to be involved in something as sacred and beloved as parenthood.
Eli turned a year on Thursday and the celebrations lasted three full days. On Thursday we celebrated rather privately with immediate family. On Friday, the celebrations continued with a smash cake. We dressed Eli in a simple onesie with ONE printed on his chest. And we let him at a cake decorated by my expert sister and I snapped away the equivalent of two rolls of film watching him explore the squishy goodness of cake and frosting all over his fingers. What a joy this was to capture and to clean. Then Saturday came the house party where he could continue the party with his new cousins and other close friends. What a fun ride one year has been.
In one year I found that I’ve snapped no fewer than 2,500 pictures of my little Eli and our gallivanting. I’m comfortable with that number, I am. In fact, I estimated I’d taken more than that before I actually did a brief audit. What worries me to some extent, however, is being able to keep up that frenetic pace should my wife and I be blessed with more babies. How will I ever be able to maintain that?