After finishing dinner, I brought Jacob upstairs to give him a bath in the sink. He played with a small toy boat as I washed and rinsed his hair. As the water drained, I wrapped him in a warm towel much too large for his tiny body and carefully dried his small amount of hair. His fingers held tightly onto my pinky finger as he stabled himself on the counter. He stepped each leg into his red, one-piece pajamas with a little help, just as he had done every other night since he was strong enough to support himself and then waited as I pulled each of his arms through the sleeves and zipped up the back of the outfit.

I carried him to my bedroom and set him on the comforter and then hurried to the closet to change into my own pajamas. When I returned, I saw that Jacob had crawled to the foot of the bed and now sat there just waiting for what was to come. Smiling, I crawled to the foot of the bed and ducked down. I waited a few seconds and then popped my head up from behind the headboard. Jacob erupted in laughter from his new position where he lay stomach down and propping his upper body up with his forearms. It was amazing how strong he had grown within the past few months - he had gone from being able to barely being able to lift his own head, to being able to crawl and even stand with a little help. I slowly lowered myself beneath the headboard again, while Jacob waited patiently for the surprised he knew would soon be coming.

This time, I crawled to the side of the bed. I could see Jacob lying on the bed, stretching his neck to try to see around the bed posts and trying to figure out where I would pop up next. I waited a few more seconds before I sprang up from the side of the bed, and, like always, he burst out laughing. Peek-a-boo had been his favorite game for the past year, but his reaction was always the same whenever I popped out from behind the bed or one of his toys. I could see his eyelids becoming heavier with each outburst, so I knew it wouldn’t be long until I could safely place him in the crib and know that he’d be sound asleep until early the next day. I crawled around the bed and popped up a few more times, and before long, Jacob was sound asleep. I quietly carried him over to his crib in the room right beside ours and then dimmed the lights. As I stood in the doorway watching Jacob curl up underneath his blanket, I knew I was a very lucky mother.