Snagged from Two Moms are Better than One: post the first sentence of your first post each month for the last year. (I took the liberty of taking the first few sentences or went a day or two in instead.) What a year - from giving birth to handing our son over not once, but twice for open-heart surgery, to figuring out what to do with baby, to figuring out work and life with the incredible, amazing Sammy.
I was exhausted rereading it all - I'm glad I have it archived, but it's overwhelmingly emotional to read. When we were in the moment, it seemed normal to us, but looking back, looking almost from the outside of it all - sometimes I wonder how we made it through as well as we did.
That said, I'm glad 2006 is almost over. Yes, it brought us Sammy and some fantastic memories and experiences, but it was by far the most difficult year I've ever, ever had. I'm ready to package it up, put it on a shelf and move into 2007 - hopefully a year full of health and without surgeries, a year of enjoying the perfect little man we have, letting him continue to amaze us, day after day.
January- Because we're getting old and couldn't imagine being out and about at midnight (we weren't even sure we'd be awake!), we had early dinner plans with Su and Reilly, Alisa and Druzba (and Jessie & Erin, but new-mommy and pregnancy things meant a more quiet evening at home for them) at a very spoilicious Cafe Escadrille.
February- So I found this site, Babes in Blogland, that lists all the preggo-bloggers by due date. There are women who are due within days of me who have already given birth.
March- Hi all. Sorry for the radio silence yesterday. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what's going on that I forget about the outside world. Sammy is doing really well. Exceptionally, actually. It makes me so nervous to say that, but the nurses and doctors are all really, really pleased with the progress he's making.
April- We're here. Exhausted, but here. Doodle's been going through a growth spurt, which means he's eating every hour to 1 1/2 hours, which translates into no sleep for mama and daddy.
May- Here's your Sammy pic - because I know you don't come here to read my boring posts anymore. ;-)
June- What do you do all day with a three-month-old baby? I'm clueless. We've already played on the gymini, in the exersaucer and on his ocean mat. He's on his second nap. I've wiggled the rattle, sang to him, we played with the ball and practiced our b-b-bs, m-m-ms and dadadas.
July- Still truckin' along, trying to take it hour by hour, trying to live as normally as I possibly can. Thanks for your emails. I'm not quite myself and I still don't want to talk about any of it, really. But thanks for your concern. Two weeks to Sammy's surgery. Thinking about it makes me dizzy. It's so unfair.
August- I know, I know, I've been quiet. Please forgive me - I know I haven't returned emails either, and it's never my intention to worry anyone! I've made a considerable effort to stay off the computer. I find that I'm happier the less I hang around staring at a screen, and besides, this kid takes up a lot of time!
September- Jay was kind enough to watch Sammy (okay, okay, they both snored away in their respective cozy places - Jay on the couch, Sammy in his swing) while I got to play a bit for what feels like the first time in ages.
October- First things first - what is up with the seriously disturbing lack of Dunkin' Donuts on I-95 from North Carolina to New Jersey? Don't they know that while Starbucks has one damned tasty latte, their coffee tastes like ass two weeks without a shower?
November- Every Wednesday, Jay gets to stay home with the monkey while I get to play grown-up and get dressed up and go to work at school and sit alone at my desk in my lonely office tucked in the back, back corner with the view of the dull, dark brick wall outside my window.
December- We had a cardiologist check-up for Sammy today. Everything's a-ok. If anything, our card is thrilled with everything except Sammy's weight gain (or lack of it - we had a few weeks of teething and reflux that made it tough for the monkey to keep much down). He said his tricuspid regurgitation is better than it was in October, and in October he had told us it was the best he had heard in Sammy EVER! So I'm thinking that was a good thing.
My name is erika-renee, but call me eka - pronounced "eh-ka." I'm suddenly somehow 32, though I still love pigtails and overalls and silly, happy things. I live north of Boston, and I'm happily married to 
I'm a mama!
