happy birthday, yusuf!

a friend of mine asked me today, "do you remember what you were doing last year at this time?"

oh, yes. i do. and although that day was a magical one and a joyous one, it was also hard and chaotic and confusing. i had been in labor for 24 hours by the time yusuf arrived, and my feelings of awe and happiness were mingled with fatigue and anxiety and pain.

this year, i'm free to just love yusuf without any of the difficult stuff. this is the first birthday of his that i am enjoying completely. and after a year of getting to know him, it's the first birthday that i think i am beginning to actually understand what he adds to our lives.

as his borders widen and he develops preferences and likes and dislikes, as he tests the boundaries of mummy and abba's "No!", as he learns how to get a laugh out of us and how to ask for what he wants, i begin to vaguely glimpse the future.

he's already ONE! but it's just the beginning.

alhamdolillah for last nov 25th, for this one, for the next ones.