New Year's Eve

[photo by Ava Lambert, 11, at Evan's Baptism]

2008. What a year. Definitely the best so far. It's going to be a though one to top, that's for sure. Evan being born changed everything for us. It's been such a great experience, everything I could have imagined, and in a lot of ways, way more. Everyday he gets a little bigger, grows a little more hair, his teeth show a little more, he crawls a bit better, notices more things, and is more vocal. The list goes on and on, and it's been so cool to watch him grow and react to the world around him. His smiles have gotten bigger, his laughs have gotten louder. He grabs things with his hands, stops to look at them, and really studies them. When people leave the room, he looks to see where they went. When he hears a noise in the hallway, he looks to see who's coming. Each new 'thing' that he does is like a gift.

Take today for example. I was taking a mid-afternoon nap in the room with him while he was asleep in his crib. We attached this toy to the side of his crib just the other night that plays music, jungle sounds, and has animals inside that move around. I heard him wake from his nap, then I heard a click, and the music began playing on his toy, then he laughed. I couldn't help but laugh myself. Here he was all by himself, and decided to play with his toy for his own amusement. When I got up to see what he was doing, there he was sitting up, (all on his own,) smiling back at me. For me, being a new father, it doesn't get much better than that.