Tribute to My Princess's First Year

My Princess celebrated her first year in style and fashion and a few surprises. Among a few friends and family she made her first steps on her own. As she excitedly unwrapped her gifts she was more vocal than before. Still trying to make sense of her words and barbles, she repeated, "That's cool," after her mom.

Looking back at the little fragile princess that came into our world February last year, I remember holding her and being a little scared that I was not sure of what I was doing. She had popped out of childbirth all of 10lbs squished and slightly bruised. I was with her from day one and hadn't missed a day in her life. The first 30 days were scary. She screamed from tummy aches and minor flu systems and drank lots of breast milk. I changed those dirty diapers, my face all squinged up.

Sometimes she screamed and I almost lost my sanity and I held her gently and loved her for her precious love. I understood that I also was once a child deserving of love. I learned along the way that raising a child takes a lot of patience. We listened to music when she was awake and we slept with music. We danced to songs and laughed wide-eyes when she giggled in amusement.

Those teething pains, oh how I wish I could have taken them away from her. She had her first tooth by 3 months and today she could put a crink in my finger if I left it in her mouth long enough. I was faced with a rude awakening when she started to eat solid foods. Changing diapers became a more tedious task as I gasped for breaths in the process. She found it amusing and smiled at me. I placed my lips on her stomach and blew on it. She loved the sound and laughed louder.

I watched with amazement when she first tried to crawl and stood half-way up just balancing on her weight. Then she mastered the art and was crawling around full speed like a little crab. she would stop for a while and look back and smile at me. She learned how to stand and she held anything that stood in her way. She took a liking to the dining-room table and chairs. I nervously watched her wriggled through narrow openings under the table as she squeezed through chairs.

Today she stood on her own and took a few steps. She rode in her little car with me behind the controls. She held her phone while driving. She took a bite into her cup-cake and ate icecream for the first time.

A year ago I had to make a decision when the doctor told us that our little one is at a risk of having Downs Syndrome. He said that we could choose to abort the pregnancy. My wife asked my opinion and I thought about it for a couple days. I came back with my decision. There is no way I would terminate this pregnancy. Whatever gift or challenge God gave us I was ready to face it with love. What a great choice it was. She was born with perfect health and gave me the best year of my life.