The Best And The Worst Of The First Year

The Best
1. The first time that you held your baby and it actually dawned on you that you and your husband created another life and that you carried your baby as well as managed to survive labor and delivery.

2. The first time that your baby truly recognizes you and smiles at you.

3. First words – which in our case were “da da,” but there’s something magical about my once helpless baby expressing himself for the first time. Although, I still keep telling my husband that “d” just happens to be easier to say than “m.”

4. Milestones – Rolling over, sitting up, scooting around, and of course crawling. I looked forward to each and every one of these moments for months before they actually happened. It was so awesome to see him get mobile.

5. Transitioning to solids was so much fun. The expressions on his face as he tried new things never ceased to amaze me.

The Worst
1. Everything that came with the first six or so weeks after giving birth. There are some things that I seriously could’ve lived without. The whole healing thing is a pain, to say the least.

2. Being so tired that I could barely think straight for the first few months of his life.

3. Learning to let go, especially when I went back to work – This was one of the hardest things about being a new mom. I still haven’t completely come to terms with the idea. Even after all of these months, it’s still hard for me to drop him off in the morning and go to work all day.

4. Teething – Teething is no fun for anyone. No sooner did we get to the point of sleeping through the night consistently, that those first few teeth erupted and he was miserable and up every hour or two. We finally got a short reprieve and we’re right back to where we started again.

5. I seriously can’t believe the amount of laundry that one little 10 lb. person can go through in a week, but we were constantly changing clothes and I was constantly doing laundry. I still am.

Do you have a few things to add to my list of the best and the worst of the first year? Were there a few things that you loved or hated? Leave a comment and share.