One year later

It is sometimes hard to believe a full year has come and gone with the COVID-19 pandemic. As I look back on this time last year, it’s hard to remember exactly what I was feeling. I was in my final few weeks of maternity leave, already planning my return when all of my plans changed in an instant.

It felt like maternity leave was extended as I worked from home for much of the past year. I don’t regret the extra time spent with my son. It was going to be difficult to leave him to head back to work, but it was inevitable. With the virus, we entered into a pseudo-normal state. It was extra nerve-wracking having a 2 month old in those first few months of uncertainty.

After a year, I feel like things have become more routine while still remaining cautious. We are approaching another transition. I hope as more people get vaccinated we can start to feel more comfortable moving on with our daily lives.

One thing was for sure when you are watching your infant grow, there is never a dull moment in the house even if the world outside has been turned on its head. My son has provided thousands of good memories in 2020 that will surely outweigh the bad ones.

As the country prepares to navigate the new-normal in the 2021 year of the pandemic, it’s hard not to start planning activities you missed in 2020. I was so looking forward to taking Lincoln to his first baseball game. I know he wouldn’t have remembered it, but it is a tradition I grew up with and wanted to pass down to him.

There were no family vacations or trips of any kind, so I look forward to taking him to more firsts even if it was a year later than planned.

One first Lincoln has been working on the past few weeks is walking. He loves to crawl because he can go so much faster than teetering on two legs. We are up to 10 independent steps, which is great progress.

My husband, Tim, and I try to present him with as many opportunities to refine his new skill as possible. Over the past two weeks, he has progressed from pulling himself up on the couch and taking two steps at a time toward me, the cat or a favorite toy, to the point where he is standing up unassisted and taking two to eight steps at a time.

He is also trying to pick up toys and carry them with him. I see these all as good signs that he’s going to a full-blown walker sometime soon. Tim is guessing by the end of the week he will have it figured out, but I lean closer to April 9, the date of his 15-month doctor’s appointment.

Either way, Lincoln is gaining more and more mobility by the day. Once he figures out how to run, I won’t sit down for anything but meals. I honestly can’t wait for those days.

I picture spending as much time in the backyard as possible, playing baseball and learning the game I love. Tim will undoubtedly pass along his love of cars and anything that moves. I already got him a learner balance bike for him to try out in the driveway when the weather gets warmer.

I know Lincoln’s first year wasn’t exactly as I pictured it, but the visions I have for our family’s future have not changed. At some point, the COVID-19 pandemic will just be something we have to teach our son about when he’s old enough to understand. This year has been difficult for many reasons, but becoming a mother wasn’t one of them. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Lincoln for coming to your father and me last year.

Contact Pam Pratt at pampratt@newtondailynews.com