So here he is, Max Emilio Barrios.

Born March 7, 2009. 6 pounds, 8 ounces, 19.5 inches long. 

Saturday morning, the day of his birth. A contraction woke me up at 6:00. I thought to myself, ‘if another one comes, then I’ll wake up Vincent’, and went back to sleep. Seven minutes later, another one. For the next few hours, all signs pointed to the ‘GO TO THE HOSPITAL’ sign, but we didn’t. We were in denial. Finally, at 9:50 am, after my water broke, we left for the hospital. At 11:01 Max came into our world. 

When you become a parent, you think of all the things you want to teach your little one. All the things you want to show them, and how you want to raise them. But everything we thought went out the door when Max looked into our eyes the first time. Now, he is the one teaching us. He is showing us the world through fresh eyes, he is teaching us how to be better people. He is the one showing us what he needs. He needs love. He needs to be held close. He needs laughter, movement, milk, diaper changes, playtime, naptime, visual and audio stimulation, among many others. He needs positive examples and guides – which is really all we can hope to be in his life. Here are some pics: To Max…the one who has forever changed our lives.

enjoy!

the shock of life

first contact

all cleaned up

naptime

little feet

playtime

discovering sunlight

playing with auntie

reading with grandma, the eternal educator

dreaming

dreaming

no pictures, please