ONE

If I were a more eloquent person, I would write the entry that perfectly captures how I feel as the mom of a one year old. I'm really not very eloquent at all, though, so if I tried that, I would just frustrate myself and sound stupid in the process. I'll leave that to the writers, I think, and instead, I've spent the last few days thinking about the things I've learned over the last year.

1- Parenting a colicky baby is like dropping a knife. You don't try to change anything, you just go with what works. Screw the stupid books that insist you need to establish behaviors and prevent bad habits.

2- The world becomes much, much scarier after you have a baby. Car accidents, cancer, and plane crashes go from minor distractions to majorly terrifying, if you let them take up too much space in your brain.

2a- It does not pay to let car accidents, cancer, or plane crashes take up too much space in your brain, unless you're making decisions about carseat usage.

3- There is no greater luxury in the world than sleep (I kind of knew that one before. I really know it now.)

4- Today's colicky baby is tomorrow's angel baby. No matter how many times I heard that, I never believed it, until it happened for us. Then again, I also never believed I'd actually have a colicky baby, so maybe I'm more skeptical than most people.

5- There is nothing better in the world than being a parent, and no matter how much I looked forward to it before, I still had no idea how much I would love it.

BONUS: in the words of Wise Donna, the days are long, but the years are short.