One Year

October 8th may not have been the most meaningful day in my life, but it definitely ranks in the top one. October 8th, you see, was my son's first birthday. Not ones for extravagance, my wife and I kept the day low-key, celebrating by having a few family members over for dinner and cake. The guest of honor, his face sporting a beard of frosting and ice cream, didn't seem to mind the sparse attendance.

His birthday was almost two months ago, but it seems like two days ago, and that has me thinking about how fast time is moving and how milestones have come and gone without asking my permission if they could come in the first place.

Among the significant milestones, besides his first birthday, that have passed since my last posting:

• He goes to school--a.k.a. day care--three days a week, and he's socializing well with the other kids and learning a ton. In fact, Josh now knows advanced calculus and can recite the number Pie to the ten-thousandth decimal place. Wow.
• He faces forward in his car seat, where he can see the world as it's coming toward him, not as it's passing him by (coincidentally, now that he can watch daddy drive he's also learning a certain finger gesture--sorry, mommy).
• He clearly understands a LOT of words, as well as simple context. Ask him where his head is, and he puts his hand on his head. Ask him where daddy's head is, and he puts his hand on daddy's head. Sounds cute--and it is, trust me--but it's also a major milestone. He's not just observing life anymore; he's participating in it.

As for me, I've seen some changes myself, though nothing as dramatic as what Josh is seeing. My changes are more incremental, less noticeable. I swear a lot less, for example. And I have a lot more patience. I'm definitely not a saint, but I continue to make a sincere effort to become, figuratively speaking, a holier man. I should probably drink less beer, but whoa whoa whoa there tiger, let's not get carried away. One step at a time, okay there chief?

And so the journey continues, and with the passage of these milestones, I'm reminded more than ever that parenthood is just that--a journey. I think I'll have a beer to celebrate.