Autumn was born at 3:43 in the afternoon. At 3:42, my world consisted of my husband and myself. A minute later that reality was no more. In one minute I went from being a 20-something married, working woman to a 20-something married, working, mother of one.
It would be fair to say that in the last 16 months more has changed about my life then stayed the same. My morning routine has been modified to include getting my daughter ready for her day and making a pit-stop on my way to work to drop her off. Dinner, which used to take place on the couch, in front of the TV, and usually included some sort of to-go box, has now transformed into a meal at the dining room table and always includes juice. Our household conversation includes decifering the ever-growing vocabulary of a one year old. The DVR has had to make room for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse next to sporting events and reality TV.
While all of these things were definetly not included in our day-to-day prior to the birth of my daughter, the changes go deeper then the obvious. Immediatly upon becoming a mother, I became a worrier. It is as if the two go hand in hand. Things that had never occured to me to even think about before Autumn now keep me up at night. Along with the worrying came the tears. A thought, a picture, a song on the radio, a commercial on TV, have all left me in tears. Even more then the worrying and the crying is my outlook on life. As cliche as it may seem, it is true.
Of all of the changes, the emotional and the day-to-day, the changes in my husband and the changes in myself, the most exciting have been the changes in my daughter. We have watched as she has grown from a helpless newborn, to an aware baby. From a crawling 6 month old to a talking, walking, sometimes running one year old. We have listened as her baby coos have turned into words and those words have turned into opinions. Over the last 16 months I have learned that each day is going to bring it's own set of surprises, but the one constant is change. I am changing, my husband is changing, my daughter is changing. I have never looked forward to change more.
