Somehow it happened: our baby turned one. Which is also to say that my husband and I survived our first year of parenting. And what a year it was. So much has happened since February 2025, when our daughter’s challenging birth landed us in the Dartmouth-Hitchcock NICU. The three of us weren’t together in those early golden hours. Instead, we packed our baby off in an ambulance, in the care of highly qualified strangers, who drove her over the mountains in the middle of the night.
Thankfully, she got strong quickly, and four days later we were home — exhausted, weepy at the sheer love of it all, and ready for our real life to begin. I remember my husband taking her on a tour of the house, explaining the art on the walls. Art? Who could be bothered with art? I was consumed by milk, measuring my worth in ounces as I pumped colostrum, parceled out precious donor milk from the freezer, and waited for my milk to come in. Milk — how much expressed, how much drunk, how much time at breast or bottle — ruled our days and nights. It was pretty much all I thought about for months. The cool thing is that it worked. The baby grew.
This first year of parenting has thrown us a lot of curveballs, and I’ve never worked so hard or been so tired. I’ve also never been so joyful. Bringing home a baby and watching them grow right in front of you: it’s utterly quotidian and miraculous, a chaos project with its own ancient schedule. Now, a year in, our daughter crawls, dances to music and pets the cat. She points at everything and asks, “What’s that?” We answer over and over again, helping her build her world as it expands beyond our cocoon.
Last week we threw a big party to celebrate her birthday. In truth, it was also a party for us. We hadn’t hosted a big gathering since before the baby was born; it was nice to remember that we could. I was glad to be surrounded by our friends and family — the people who supported us this first monumental year, and who will shape our child’s life in the years to come. Because here’s the thing about turning one: you and your child have come so far. But you’re both still at the beginning.
— Sarah Harris is digital editor at the Addison Independent
Do you have a story to share about life with young kids in Addison County? We’d love to hear from you! Email [email protected].