Watching my Son Grow: a Photographic History

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When my son was born twenty years ago, one of the gifts we received was a bouncy seat. He was a very big baby (9lbs 2 ozs, 23″), so from the very start he was comfortable in his little chair.

Adam-3 days old, 1992

Needless to say, we took a lot of pictures of our kids when they were growing up – and I decided it would be fun to take Adam’s picture in the bouncy chair each month of his first year to document his growth. When you are a stay-at-home mom, you have a lot of time to fill with activity.

It was such fun taking his picture every month, that I decided to do it every year until he was 18. On his birthday. With the same bouncy seat. There were many who said I’d never stick with it, but I did. Every June 16 I would drag out the seat from it’s spot on a high shelf in the garage, wrapped in a big green garbage bag, and no matter what else was going on, we would take Adam’s picture on that day. We never, ever missed. Now we have a wonderful pictorial history of our son growing up.

Adam, 1 year old, 1993

Adam, 3 years old – 1995

Adam, 4 years old, 1996

I never gave having a son much thought. Whenever I pictured myself as a mother, I always saw a little girl. I was so happy when my daughter was born – I had my girl. Of course I always wanted a boy, so we could have that “ideal” family, but not in the way I wanted a girl.

Adam, 6 years old, 1998

Adam, 8 years old, 2000

But then Adam was born, and I lost my heart. I had no idea how much I would love my little boy. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of that little boy in my son, now a twenty year old man, and I get very sentimental. Kind of like, well, writing this post. Luckily he doesn’t mind…too much. He’s nice that way.

Adam, 12 years old, 2004

Adam, 15 years old, 2007

I didn’t do these annual pictures with my daughter Katie. I didn’t think of it when she was born. But that’s ok. I kind of like that this was something special that we did just for Adam, to celebrate him every year, and to keep a tradition that we all enjoyed. The older he got, the sillier that little chair looked next to him…but that was the point.

Adam, 16 years old, 2008

Adam, 18 years old, 2010 – the final bouncy seat photo.

My, how he’s grown.