You don't need to convince me that babies are more aware/intelligent than we give them credit for. They have to synthesize and absorb a lot of information to make sense of their world. And then, one morning, they surprise you by spontaneously saying "water" when you're refilling the dog's dish. Inside the baby mind - The Boston Globe

Now, however, scientists have begun to dramatically revise their concept of a baby's mind. By using new research techniques and tools, they've revealed that the baby brain is abuzz with activity, capable of learning astonishing amounts of information in a relatively short time.

Not that we forgot, but its amazing to think that Nicholas is already one year old. I'll try to stay away from any cliche in regards to father hood and how quickly children grow up. A little over one year ago, when he was born, I could not have anticipated how he'd change my life, even though I knew he would.

When you're expecting parents, time seems to move in lurches, fast at times, and then really slow at others. You're days are measured in weeks until term, not months. The bliss at the beginning gives way to panic as you try to prepare a home for your new family member. Finaly, those last four weeks, at least for us, seemed to halt to a crawl, punctuated by a routine of doctor checks, hospital visits for monitoring, and then back home, only to repeat again. Staci was on bed rest that last month, and I can only imagine how stir crazy she must have felt cooped up with mainly her mom and I for company.

The first months after Nicholas was born, we were so focused on taking care of him and learning to understand him, that we didn't have time to notice how our routines were adjusting. It was very much focused on taking care of his needs mainl food and sleep. Tehn the time between feedings slowly increased, and then he started sleeping through the night and we were bonafide parents - able to change diapers in the most unusual places and planning our days around his nap and eating schedules. Now, he's starting to parrot words and remember meanings, so we actually have tiny converations. Albeit repetitive ones like 'What does the Cow say?'.

I'm indescribably happy to be a dad and to have such a wonderful son.  Its been fun to watch what granparenthood has done to our parents as well. The highlight of my day definitely is coming home from work and seeing his face brighten and smile when I walk thorugh the door.

This poses an interesting dilemma for people who want to deport unauthorized immigrants to their home countries. Do you break up the families? What happens when they grow up and they can vote? I know in my family, we don't forget the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the early-mid 90s that spurred us to become citizens.

Pew Hispanic Center Publication: A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States

In addition, a growing share of the children of unauthorized immigrant parents--73%--were born in this country and are U.S. citizens.