I Blinked And Here We Are
Dear Alastair,
When you're little, there's no time. Time is just right now. So the idea of tomorrow seems foreign and far away. Then as you get older, time goes by a little quicker. Then suddenly you're an adult, with bills, work, friends, family, and all the fun things to balance. And every year on New Year's Eve, you wonder where the year went. But nothing prepares you for when you have children. Time seems to go by quicker than before. You blink and your child is teething, crawling, walking, talking. Then you have 2 kids, and time doubles the speed. Then we had you. And it just went exponentially faster from the day you were born.
With your sisters being polar opposites, I honestly did not know what to expect with you. Turned out, you move the most out of the three. And your demeanor seems to fall between your siblings. You are calculated, taking in all that is around you and processing everything slowly before showing a smile.
You weaned a couple of weeks ago. The last time I nursed you, I knew it was going to be the last time. You started sleeping through the night around 10/11 months and nursing you back to sleep became less and less frequent. I held you there after nursing you for the last time. A little longer than normal. I watched you as you were sleeping peacefully in my arms. And part of me wanted to hold on to that moment forever. Yet I knew letting go was also part of raising you guys. My heart hurt a little that night. I blinked and you hit yet another milestone.
You now have 6 teeth (!). You took your first steps about 2-3 weeks ago. You can say dada, mama, zei zei (big sister in Chinese), ball, and sometimes if you feel like it, you'll say po po. You rarely sign. You know how, you just know you don't have to because someone will fetch you what you want. You somehow learned how to climb down the stairs a week ago. You have the most hair out of the 3 and I think I might even need to trim your hair soon. You eat...a lot. You love pasta and potatoes (a true Nickel!) and only eat rice because otherwise there'd be nothing else. Your favorite sister is the one who isn't in your face the most at that moment. You are the loudest out of the 3. You are also the most clingy to me. You love to dance. You need to sleep with 2 soothers at night so you can switch them out when you need to. You are not super social, but you are if it's with someone you are familiar with. I am fairly sure all of you are social only because your dad and I force you to.
You are funny. And you know it. You rarely tantrum (touch wood). It's no wonder that everyone loves you. You are truly your father's son that way where I have not met a single soul who didn't fall in love with you. It's amazing to me to watch your sisters love you every day. I feel like Bree was blessed with a brother so she can have someone to wrestle with. They wake up each morning and love coming to entertain you in the morning when you wake. You are so so loved.
You have completed this family. Not because you are a boy. But because you are you. It feels like a perfect balance spending enough quality time with each of you right now. This past year, you have taught me about asking for help, about balance in life, and just truly loving every moment of this growing process with all of you. I am more mindful about your lasts. I know your last days of crawling is coming. And I am enjoying still needing to carry you every where for now. Keep me in check my boy. Make sure I remember not to think too far ahead or reminisce too much about the past. Thank you for keeping me grounded. I look forward to seeing what this next year will bring us.
Happy Birthday Alastair. I love you.
love, mom
When you're little, there's no time. Time is just right now. So the idea of tomorrow seems foreign and far away. Then as you get older, time goes by a little quicker. Then suddenly you're an adult, with bills, work, friends, family, and all the fun things to balance. And every year on New Year's Eve, you wonder where the year went. But nothing prepares you for when you have children. Time seems to go by quicker than before. You blink and your child is teething, crawling, walking, talking. Then you have 2 kids, and time doubles the speed. Then we had you. And it just went exponentially faster from the day you were born.
With your sisters being polar opposites, I honestly did not know what to expect with you. Turned out, you move the most out of the three. And your demeanor seems to fall between your siblings. You are calculated, taking in all that is around you and processing everything slowly before showing a smile.
You weaned a couple of weeks ago. The last time I nursed you, I knew it was going to be the last time. You started sleeping through the night around 10/11 months and nursing you back to sleep became less and less frequent. I held you there after nursing you for the last time. A little longer than normal. I watched you as you were sleeping peacefully in my arms. And part of me wanted to hold on to that moment forever. Yet I knew letting go was also part of raising you guys. My heart hurt a little that night. I blinked and you hit yet another milestone.
You now have 6 teeth (!). You took your first steps about 2-3 weeks ago. You can say dada, mama, zei zei (big sister in Chinese), ball, and sometimes if you feel like it, you'll say po po. You rarely sign. You know how, you just know you don't have to because someone will fetch you what you want. You somehow learned how to climb down the stairs a week ago. You have the most hair out of the 3 and I think I might even need to trim your hair soon. You eat...a lot. You love pasta and potatoes (a true Nickel!) and only eat rice because otherwise there'd be nothing else. Your favorite sister is the one who isn't in your face the most at that moment. You are the loudest out of the 3. You are also the most clingy to me. You love to dance. You need to sleep with 2 soothers at night so you can switch them out when you need to. You are not super social, but you are if it's with someone you are familiar with. I am fairly sure all of you are social only because your dad and I force you to.
You are funny. And you know it. You rarely tantrum (touch wood). It's no wonder that everyone loves you. You are truly your father's son that way where I have not met a single soul who didn't fall in love with you. It's amazing to me to watch your sisters love you every day. I feel like Bree was blessed with a brother so she can have someone to wrestle with. They wake up each morning and love coming to entertain you in the morning when you wake. You are so so loved.
You have completed this family. Not because you are a boy. But because you are you. It feels like a perfect balance spending enough quality time with each of you right now. This past year, you have taught me about asking for help, about balance in life, and just truly loving every moment of this growing process with all of you. I am more mindful about your lasts. I know your last days of crawling is coming. And I am enjoying still needing to carry you every where for now. Keep me in check my boy. Make sure I remember not to think too far ahead or reminisce too much about the past. Thank you for keeping me grounded. I look forward to seeing what this next year will bring us.
Happy Birthday Alastair. I love you.
love, mom
Hello Carley. I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad I came across your profile on the blogger and the blog post and came to know about you and your family. I came across your other blog on the year of Jesus but you did not visit it for a while I just thought of visiting your other blog post which you have visited recently and posted on it that is how I landed over here. The Lord has blessed you with two beautiful baby girls. they are indeed heritage and gift from God. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I am blessed and feel privileged and honored to know you as well as get connected with you through your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 37 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of christ to bring healing to the borkenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults f rom the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time to work with us. We would love to have young people from your contact come to Mumbai during their vacation time to work with us. I am sure they will have a life changing experience. God willing I will b e coming to Calgary, Canada in the month of October and plan to visit Vancouver and will be so glad to meet young people from your contact to share with them the opportunity to come to Mumbai on a missions trip. My eamil id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar wankhede. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you, your family and friends.
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