Accents: Becoming one

accents: random tidbits that heighten the mundane of life into lovely memories.

Today, our family of four reached a great milestone. Our first born, our only human child, turned one, and it makes this mama’s heart ache. I am overjoyed, as texts from friends and family poured into our cell phone’s inbox to express their excitement for our little family for having reached this time and place. I am humbled by the love that surrounds our girl. At the same time, I am grieving for the fleeted time that can never get back as the clock ticks towards the anniversary of our girl’s arrival. In some ways, I am grateful for having the foresight to enjoy it as much as possible.

During her first year of life, I have instinctively and capably wrapped her in my love and protection. It’s such an easy task to accomplish. Every day that her comprehension level sharpens, I am acutely aware that above and beyond loving her, I am also charged with the great responsible of teaching her.

I believe that the world is full of good: good people, good things and good intentions. But having lived these short 28 years of my life, I am also privy to the ugliness of this world. I need to teach my girl both sides of the same coin, while shaping her to BE the good part of it.

I don’t know how to do that yet and I’m learning as I go, and there is no concrete evidence that it is working yet. Only time will tell. But I believe that empowering my kids and equipping them with confidence and self esteem will help them guard off those occasional moments where someone beat them down through insults and other emotional injuries, by laughing it off or better yet, learn from them and never repeat them unto other. I would hope that she would raise it to another level of possibility and use her experience of being pulled under water and in turn throw a life raft to someone else.

During her first year of life, I have became a pro at taping the diaper tabs snugly and comfortably, mixing bottles in pitch dark and finding the hungry seeking mouth perfectly, how to sway overtired baby into a slumber. All of this pales in comparison to the greater task of raising a child to feel loved and valued and developing her unique traits and characteristics, so that she can cope with the ugly of this world. Often times, it is so easy to wallow in self-pity (I know from experience) but I need to show her how to thrive in those circumstances to ensure her own survivor and the quality of life she deserves, so that she can in turn empower others and change the world.

On the happy occasion of my girl turning one, I am overjoyed while feeling a little down at the great responsibility of being her Mama, and consequently at the lack of instructions on how to execute on those responsibilities. For now I will let those thoughts churn in my head, and focus on the girl of the hour.

::traditions - we established a lot of traditions during her first year, some of which required a lot of time and money, but now that the year closed, it is so worth it to have the memories.

Monthly pictures - with her lying down.

Monthly pictures - with her sitting.

Monthly pictures - with cupcakes (same number of cupcakes for the number of months. I think we single-handedly funded the local business).

::birthday party - I am getting ready for her birthday party, approaching in 1.5 weeks. These are two of the completed projects. 100 more to go...keep telling myself that it will be worth it in the end, when it all comes together.

::Beautiful things in life are worth capturing. So true.

::cake smash - a growing tradition of turning one that we had to part-take in. If nothing else, we got one heck of a photograph out of it.