What a difference a year makes.
Last Mother's Day Sam was just shy of 6 months old. Maddie was almost 2 1/2 and had only been walking a few months. I can't remember if he was sleeping through the night. I don't think so. I'm guessing he was still getting up once. But I know he was sleeping in his crib with Maddie in her new toddler bed. In part I remember because the one and only time that Maddie got out of her bed and came to our room was on Mother's Day last year.
This time last year I had been back to work for about two months. I was in that stage where mommyhood was still consuming me -- literally, as it were, as I was breastfeeding or pumping throughout the day and night. I was tired. So, so, so very tired.
This year Maddie is 3 1/2 and smart as a whip. She loves preschool. This year I got the special joy of getting a gift made at school -- a necklace made of plastic beads strung on yarn. I've promised that I will wear it to work tomorrow.
Sam is 17 months and delightful. Happy, mostly, though guarded with new people in a way that Maddie never was. Eating anything that doesn't eat him first.
I'm still tired, but not like then. Mostly I just feel like I have a bit of my life back. I was able to go to the gym yesterday and today. I can wear normal bras again. I'm finally back to my pre-baby weight. I didn't overly stress on that point either time -- it took about a year with Maddie and longer with Sam. But still, it's nice to be back into some of my favorite clothes and to even buy some new things.
I love being Mommy, but I also love being Tami. The past three Mother's Days have been all about the Mommy piece -- in 2008 Maddie was 6 months old, in 2009 I was pregnant again and last year Sam was very little. This year it finally feels like the balance is swinging back, just a bit, to the Tami side.