I've been thinking about writing an article to summarize my life in the past year, 2014, and I saw the topic popping out yesterday. What a wonderful coincidence!

I've been a forum member at China Daily for years but only started blogging last December, actually on the advise of my husband.?I spent about 25 years in school, as a student and as a research officer later on. I have little knowledge of jobs from other industries. But if you have a scientific research background, you would be clear onthe lifestyle of this special field. In front of you, there are consecutive projects seemingly without an end. People keep working like tireless robots. Meanwhile you need to fully make use of your brain to think to death, needless to say that reading and writing papers are only daily routines. And patents and publications are essentials in our academic life. It sounds harsh and tough, but actually it is not that horrible. And I know that some people, including my husband,,really love it.

Compared to other research projects, raising a child is a lifelong, giant project to me. It has absolute priority and it deserves my unconditional love as well as my time and energy. The outcome of this particular project is what kind of life and future the child will have, which we parents are fully responsible for. My hubby and I bear the conception in common, thus I made up my mind to try to be a full time mother when I was expecting the baby, because we clearly know the important role the first three years play in a child's life.

But it's not easy to retreat home. Your role is changing significantly, and it's easy to get lost in the process. There is no doubt that I love Nicole and that I enjoy accompanying her in her growth. But for a time, in the very beginning, I felt emptiness and was aimless, with no idea where my position was and where my life would divert to. Knowing the problem is a good sign, which urges us to solve it together immediately. Surely the condition needed to be improved. Once when we discussed this issue, my husband suggested,"Why not write some articles like what you have done in your research before? You look after Nicole in a scientific way, ask for help from professional research papers, and follow the guidelines from experienced pediatricians etc.. It would probably help you out if you start making records of this special process, think about it and write down what you have found." It sounded like a good idea, I started soon and right now it’s hard for me to stop writing.

What kind of progress has Nicole made in 2014? She can brush her teeth with my help. She can use a spoon and fork to eat independently. She can drink from a wide open cup by herself. She can wash and dry her hands. She can walk up and down the stairs. She can feed a doll. She can kick a ball forward and can also throw it overhand. She can jump up. She can build a tower of seven or eight cubes. She knows what’s vertical and what’s horizontal. She can draw a vertical line, and she names it as one. She starts counting. She overcomes frequent tantrums. She knows good manners such as P’s ad Q’s (please and thank you). She is so busy making progress every day that is challenging for me to list them all. As to the speech concernx I had half a year ago, there is still an obvious tempory delay in her development, which I attribute to the poor language environment we have. But anyway, she grasped a vocabulary of about 50 Chinese words in her twenty months, and now the vocabulary has been enlarged to around 250 words. She can name six body parts and can identify her Indian friend by her name, Naixia. All these signs assure me that she will probably turn out to be a late bloomer, and now I feel more relaxed about the concern. Most important, she is a healthy and happy girl, which comforts us. As to my own progress, well, I am a happy mother who in turn can bring happiness to the whole family.

It is December again. One year has passed. I remembered one sentence I’ve read before: “The two important things I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the right decision.” The right decision is what we need in life, especially when we are at a crossroads. Keep moving forward after that and never give up, we will find our lives are becoming more and more beautiful. I owe my sincere and great appreciation to my husband, here I’d like to thank him, and wish him a very happy birthday:

No matter how many years passed, you will always be the man of my dreams.

Happy Birthday!

The original blog is: http://blog.chinadaily.com.cn/blog-309597-25223.html