Closing in on a year

Severen turns one in about two weeks - WOW! This is what we looked like almost exactly one year ago when I was 38 weeks pregnant. I can so vividly remember shooting the photos for that post, feeling my son (I didn't know it was Severen then - crazy!) kick and wiggle from time to time. And here are a few photos of what the two of us look like today.

A year means something different to me now than it did before I had a child. It seems longer and also shorter. It seems longer because I counted almost every one of the last 350 days in some way or another. I charted Severen's growth and progress by the day, the week, and the month. I kept a journal (sort of) about my life and his. I took 1000s of photographs. I carefully measured and documented the passage of time in a way that I've never done before. By doing that I came to see just how very, very much can be accomplished in a year. Every day really counts when you are working on building your life from the bottom up, as children are.

Oddly, the length of a year also feels shorter now than before. Maybe that fast-forward feeling comes from being so engrossed in the dozens of daily tasks involved in raising a child. The pace is almost incomprehensible and things accumulate quickly. One diaper becomes 1000 diapers. One feeding becomes 3000 feedings. A 9# baby becomes a 26# toddler. It is a bit disorienting. Sort of like coming up from the subway the first time and suddenly finding yourself in a different part of the city - trying to figure out how you crossed all that distance without seeing it happen. Soren and I are always marveling at Severen's changes. When did he start doing that? How long has he been able to say, "star?" When did his hair get so long? When did he outgrow his 12 month clothes?

However slowly or quickly time passes, I know that one day I will wake up and be absolutely astonished to find that have been aging along with Severen. I completely understand why people say, "I can't believe I am 40!" or "I can't be turning 50, can I?" It is easy to lose track of time when you are watching someone else grow up.