Celebrating Daniel

His first night home from the hospital,
we stayed up late watching him sleeping,
afraid he would stop breathing during
the night without the nurses nearby, that
somehow he would sense our incompetence
as parents and in his dismay, forget how
to breathe.
The second night, we were glad he fell
asleep so we could crawl to bed ourselves.
The third night, I think we fell asleep
before he did, although it may be that we
just entered a quasi-comatose state.
The fourth night, his grandparents arrived
and took over; I just woke up to feed him.
He grew, he learned, he played, he loved,
we loved, we played with him, we grew up
with him, we watched with wonder,
amazement, at times shaking our heads.
Eight thousand seven hundred fifty four
days later, after class, he finds
home made chocolate chip cookies in his mailbox
to celebrate his birthday.
I celebrate him.