Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving week! Since I have no new art to show you (see my previous post about moving), I thought I'd take some time to list all the things I have to be thankful for this year instead. I know for many 2020 has been a really rough year, in many ways - and I feel very fortunate to have so have so much to be thankful for in such a bleak time.

The year started with the birth of my daughter on January 1st. What a way to start the year! It has been amazing these last ten and a half months watching her grow. From nursing to pureed foods and sippy cups, and now to eating the food off our plates; from barely being able to lift up her head to learning how to roll and sit and crawl and stand; from sleeping constantly to never wanting to sleep at all (why sleep when there's so many things to learn, so many rooms to explore, so many ways to play!) - she has been a constant source of wonder and joy throughout 2020.

On a similar note, I am also so thankful for my husband, who is the best dad to our daughter. The pandemic meant all of his classes for his master's program went fully online in the spring; once he found a job and started working full-time again, that was also remote. I love having him home so much, especially while our daughter is so young; even if he's working, he's still close enough that he can join us for walks around the neighborhood or a bit of playtime during his lunch break. He has gotten to watch her grow just as intimately as I have, and they have a wonderful bond. It's also been amazing for me, to have someone around to help get her down for naps and bedtimes when she just refuses to sleep, and to share in some of the daily stresses of parenting a baby.

I am thankful to have spent the majority of this year in Rochester Hills, which has so many great outdoor spaces. Over the summer, when we were bored staying inside our house but didn't feel comfortable taking our daughter to all of the places I'd once imagined taking her during her first year (to the library, and to stores, and to the zoo, and to anywhere else fun I could think of), we still had plenty of opportunities of places to go. We visited several nearby parks and took her on walks (in her stroller or in a baby carrier) along the Clinton River Trail, which was a lot of fun for her and our dog, and great fresh air and exercise for all of us.

I'm grateful that my husband was able to find a job he's really excited about, working for a non-profit he's really excited about, and that his new employers value his health and are taking this pandemic seriously. I'm also grateful that we were able to find a house we love in a neighborhood we love in Ann Arbor, and that we have the time to move there more gradually than we otherwise probably would if my husband wasn't working remotely and was already in the Ann Arbor office.

I'm thankful for our families - those who have been able to visit (once the stay-home order was lifted), entertain the baby, and help us move; and those who live farther away but still made time for countless Skype and Zoom calls to visit with our daughter safely (and virtually). They say it takes a village to raise a child, and this pandemic has isolated many from their villages; I'm so appreciative of the efforts made to make sure that wasn't our fate.