A letter to Stephen on the eve of his first birthday

Stephen,

This week has been tough for you...you had a stomach bug that made you throw up over me and then when you got over that, you seem to have had trouble with the four teeth that you are getting all at the same time. You are a little bothered by this, but you have seemed to still sleep through the night, except for that bad Friday night when you wouldn't sleep except with your parents, which you haven't done since you were a newborn and wow, you just constantly move in your sleep and wake us up. We know you are just dealing with all the changes that are happening---becoming bipedal takes work and energy and babbling and expressing yourself is difficult when you don't know the words or how to tell us you want something. We are impressed with your obvious love of things: swinging, swimming, and a new one: the vacuum. You are your parents, both good and bad, in a mini-sized package. We look forward to your second year and how you will change...I know you will be running around soon and transitioning to eating by yourself. Your daddy is looking forward to sharing this Christmas with you...we know that you will love the boxes and unwrapping, but that you won't like that there are boxes there for you under the tree you will not be able to have yet. Soon you will not need mommy except when you are tired, bored, sick, need a new diaper, hurt...ok, so you will need mommy a lot. You are very demanding, but most times, I love to be needed. You have made our lives more...more complicated, more busy, more tired, more debt (house project mainly), more beautiful, more enriching, and more amazing. We love you,

Mommy and Daddy