First Year of Being a Mother Essay

Seeing my son for the first time after delivery, â€Å"It was love at first sight.† It was in the evening on a cold day, a cold front had just come in. We were in the hospital while family waited for the arrival of my new born child. You think you know the extent of love until you have had a child and see him or her for the very first time. Having a child is learning patience, teaching your child new things, and watching them grow. The first year I thought was going to be tough, being that I knew I had little patience. When you have a child however you learn quickly they run on their time and not yours. He would cry when he was hungry every four hours regardless of how much I wanted to sleep or if I had just dozed off. After a couple of nights I learned he was not going to go to sleep no matter how bad I wanted him to and when he did finally fall asleep I no longer wanted to because all I wanted to do was hold him and admire his peacefulness. He would sometimes wake up and cry only because he wanted to be held often many nights I would be in a good sleep. Every month was a new journey a new adventure with the things he would learn from his father and me teaching him or by him growing and developing. It amazed me how fast he would pick new things up after showing him a couple of times. Even though you don’t realize or notice it children learn every day. He learned by grabbing new objects he had never seen or by watching us do the same things over and over again. He would eventually pick it up and months later would surprise us by doing the same exact things he had seen us do. The new faces he would learn how to make were priceless often making us erupt in laughter. I have watched my son grow from small enough to fit in my arms measuring a little over one foot with room to spare to over three feet long and still growing. He has gone from subtle movements to turning over, sitting up and crawling. I know his learning and growth has just begun. His legs, hand and eye coordination has improved significantly as he has grown older, enabling him to realize who I was and eventually able to stand on his own. I anticipate he will be walking soon. Witnessing him slowly gain more confidence as he learns to let go of the table and stand at first for seconds at a time and now able to stand for minutes at a time has been a proud moment for me. Watching him grow as his mother has given me such joy and amazement on how fast he has grown before my eyes. It feels as if he was still born only yesterday. Alexander turned one in November and this first year was one I will always cherish. The day we brought him home until now has been an experience for each of us. He has taught me I have more patience than I originally thought and I know there are still many years that I will continue to learn as he tests my patience. There will be many days in the future where I will teach him new things, like riding a bike or how to build a tower out of Lego’s, and he will continue to develop and learn. To watch him grow will be my joy in life.