Life with the Schneggs : The obligatory big sappy post

Wow. One whole year. 12 crazily amazing months. On the one hand, I can't believe it's already been 12 months. Time has flown. On the other hand, I can't (or don't care to) remember my life without Dylan in it.

A friend posted a link to an article the other day. It's very long, so I'll paraphrase: basically it summarizes hundreds of studies which have found that parents are less happy than non-parents. That children decrease rather than increase happiness. As offensive as that premise is, at the time you're reading it, it makes sense. So I thought about it a lot. And maybe I'm wearing my rose-colored glasses, but it's just not true for me.

Dylan has absolutely made me happier. A lot of people have even commented on a fundamental change in my personality. E-mom is more patient, more laid-back...and I know I'm less prone to depression than I was sans-Dylan. Maybe that's because I quit smoking just in time to get pregnant and become a mom, but I choose to attribute it to my love of motherhood.

If I delve really deeply into the whys of my being happier post-Dylan, I have to admit that Liechtenstein probably helps some. Like the article says, "countries with stronger welfare systems produce more children—and happier parents...If you are no longer fretting about spending too little time with your children after they’re born (because you have a year of paid maternity leave)...if you’re no longer wondering how to pay for your children’s education and health care (because they’re free)—well, it stands to reason that your own mental health would improve."

Wow...I've really gone off topic (but there's my contribution to the "discuss"ion, Molly). What I meant to say was this...I believe I can honestly refute the findings of all these studies in my own personal case. I absolutely am a happier person since Dylan entered my life.

Now...for the memory books (and so I keep myself honest when it comes to the baby bragging rights once my kids have kids), here's the real and true lists of can's and can'ts for Dylan Elliot at 12 months old:

Rolling over: can (on a soft surface...if I lay him on the floor - even on carpet, it's like I've pinned the butterfly specimen to the corkboard).

Crawling: I wouldn't say can't, he's just developed a more stylish alternative. ;)

Walking: can't. Definitively can not.

Pulling-up: starting to, he likes to pull himself up on my bra.

Waves: yup. But he only waves hello – not goodbye.

Teeth: 4 (2 upper, 2 lower).

Words: unsure whether I'm succumbing to wishful thinking, so I'm gonna say can't at the moment. I think he says ma-ma sometimes, but only when he's in his crib. Asked him where the light was the other day and he pointed at it saying, "aite" - but that may have been a fluke...we had a fluke where I thought he was saying, "Auto" (German for car) - turned out it was just an interesting combination of syllables.

Pointing: He absolutely can and does communicate via pointing. He directs most of his meals via spoon now - like a little conductor he points the spoon at the food when he wants a bite and points the spoon at his sippy when he wants a drink. When I'm reading him Goodnight Moon, he always points at the cat when I ask him "where the meow-meow is." Or he'll butt-scoot on over to the bottles of milk when I ask him "where the moo-cow is." He also responds to requests like „turn the page“ or „you want a bite“ or „can mama have a bite.“

Breastfeeding: Done. He completely weaned himself by 11.5 months, although he's developed a love of bottles (that was the final step of weaning, when he turned away from the boob to stare at the door like, "Where's dad with the *$/("#! bottle?!?")

Sleeping-through-the-night: He could, if he wanted to. He's proven that with about a dozen fluke nights. But he chooses not to. He's up at least once a night to eat (sometimes twice) and goes right back to sleep. At the moment I'm just enjoying it since it's one of the few times I still get to cuddle him.

Eating: Definitely can...eat us right out of house and home. He can just about pack away as much spaghetti as I can. Eats pretty much everything except avocados, cottage cheese and zucchini. And we haven't started a few things yet...like strawberries, citrus, nuts, honey, cow's milk (the no-nos before 1 year basically).

Feeding himself: he tries, how he loves to try. And oh what a mess it makes.

Hitting/slapping/biting: Can. *sigh* Hopefully this phase passes quickly.

Smiles/giggles/laughs: absolutely can – and does often. :)

But I'm still not quite sure how we got from this: