What I've loved about the first year (continuation)

So blogger kept erasing part of my sentimental post about Clay's year - more specifically, it kept erasing the part where I told about some of my favorite moments so let me try to fill in the first part that kept getting erased.


I loved looking down at Clay while holding him for the first time and then looking up at Jim and saying "we did it" knowing that the three of us made it through with flying colors, I loved getting to do kangaroo care (or skin to skin contact) for over an hour on Clay's first day, I loved taking our baby home for the first time, I loved laying on the soft carpet in Clay's room with Jim holding me, me hold Clay during the wee hours of the morning and knowing that life was absolutely perfect for our family of three, I loved changing his diaper and suddenly realizing that he was smiling at me for the first time, I loved those special hours in the late afternoon-early evening when the only thing that calmed down my little guy was laying on Mommy's chest, I loved having him in a moses basket next to me and then in the pack and play for the first almost 4 months of his life (and I love how much it hurt to move him to his room), I loved hearing his "whiskey laugh" and husky little voice, I loved feeling his hand around my finger, I loved cuddling with him each night and each morning, I loved pacing around in his room trying to coax him to sleep with the pages of "Goodnight Moon" that I had committed to memory and the verses of lullabies I decided were our special songs, I loved coming home to my little guy, I loved picking him up from his first day of daycare, I loved visiting him EVERYDAY at lunch when I was working, I loved seeing his face light up for me and his daddy - each time in its own special way, I loved watching him react to each member of his family from Yaya to Granny to Poppa to Grand Bop to Mema to Gramps to Nana to each aunt and uncle and cousin and seeing that he loved them and that their simple presence made him exponentially happy.  I loved walking out of daycare for the last time and knowing that we were embarking on yet another adventure together, I loved every single first from the first plane flight to the first times in NYC, Connecticut, Lubbock, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Austin, Nashville, and Pecos.  I loved his first toothy grin, the way he gobbled up his first entire bowl of rice cereal, the way he sooooo disliked his first taste of turkey, to the first time he got in his Johnny Jump Up, to the first time he crawled.  I love the way that having him made me realize how much Jim and I were loved and cared for by our own parents.  I loved sleeping in a rocking chair so that I could sleep in his room when he was sick, I loved watching his reaction to the new experiences he faced each day.  There is no way to completely acknowledge or remember everything that we've loved other than to say and express that I truly mean that I've loved every single minute of it!