Tess is 8 months old today! She’s trying to sit up by herself, getting better at keeping the baby food in her mouth, sleeping through the night and getting pretty coordinated with her hands. She grabs things, rotates them, even shakes her rattle!

Diving back into life at full-speed post-China has been a bit challenging, at work mostly. My most fantastic manager granted me temporary 32-hour weeks, so that extra time should help me better coordinate Tess’ therapy exercises, doctor appointments, etc. it also means I’ll simply get a little more time with her, which is great! This week and next are frantically full, however, so I don’t think those benefits are piling up just yet.

As the holidays sneak up on us, I marvel at how quickly our perspective changes. Last Thanksgiving we took our annual family photo and I felt so bereft, empty arms hanging at my sides as I watched all my nieces and nephews mugging for grandpa behind the camera. All of the years of waiting, those Christmas picture moments were always the hardest. Suddenly, Tess’ first Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner. Yet I’m not gleefully planning her outfits and going overboard with gifts! I guess I’m so content to be her mom, looking forward to watching her stare at the twinkle lights and talk along to the Christmas carols. Sure, I want a picture of her with Santa and her cousins, and I’ll be holding her tight and say my thank you’s in that family shot – but the technicolor vision I had has been replaced by mashed bananas and that funny, full-body smile she has. Reality so surpasses my imagination here that I have no words to express it.

As we all get a little nuts (in a good way?!), remember to take a second to be grateful. After all, the nuts bit comes from how much we love our families and want to celebrate with them. It’s easy to miss that in the chaos of travel and cooking and shopping, but I’m clinging to the quiet happiness. I got what I wished for. 🙂