This blog post is my thirteenth yearly reflection. The three previous reflections can be found here: 2024, 2023, 2022.

It’s the 1st of February as I write this, a whole month late. I wanted to write this reflection earlier, but I didn’t get around to prioritising it because a lot of other things were happening in my life in January.

(in retrospect, that delay says something about the year itself)

The biggest thing that happened in my life in 2025 occurred on March 4th. I’ll sound like a lot of other parents in the next few sentences. But there’s nothing like becoming and then being a parent—nothing else I’ve experienced has so quickly and thoroughly rearranged what feels important. It’s life-altering, and while not always easy, I find it incredibly rewarding.

(cue to other parents nodding as they read this)

Here are some of the things that happened during 2025 in my life, in no particular order:

• I’ve read 25327 pages across 70 books. This is slightly more than last year, which was the most ever then. I thought that my book consumption would go down this year, but it stayed around the same. Here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed the most (in the order I’ve read them):
  • Carrie Soto is Back. I’ve gone through all the major Taylor Jenkins Reid books in 2025. “Carrie Soto is Back” is the one I enjoyed the most. It’s a perfect relaxation book - with a fast-moving and intriguing plot, and clear and lucid writing.
  • Wind and Truth. Brandon Sanderson remains an author whose books I read each year. “Wind and Truth” is book five of a series that will consist of ten books. All five so far have been more than 1000 pages (this one is 1330). At this point, you’re either on board or not. I’m fully on board, even though the first two books in the series were the best ones.
  • John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs. My most enjoyable reading experience in 2025. This was my first book on the Beatles, and I found it insightful and absorbing to follow the Beatles through the relationship of John and Paul. While I was reading the book, I listened to a bunch of the Beatles’ music, which enhanced the book’s experience even more.
  • Apply in China. A great business book, this year’s “Chip War”. Provides a comprehensive look at Apple and China, and how the two are intertwined. Has a great deal of interesting detail, including history and an assessment of the current situation.
  • Jesus Wept. I’m not religious, but I found this book fascinating and, at times, infuriating. On the surface, it’s hundreds of pages of Vatican politics: meetings, debates, backroom dealings, positioning. But that’s the point. Those regular political dealings ended up shaping the lives of millions of people. It’s not an easy read, but it’s one worth sitting with - even, maybe especially, if you’re not religious.
  • Chokepoints. I’ve read through half of the Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2025 longlist, and Chokepoints was my favourite from that list. Economic warfare is a very relevant topic these days, and I enjoyed becoming more familiar with it.

• I’ve watched 36 movies, significantly fewer than years past as movies and TV moved lower down the priority stack, without much resistance from me. One Battle After Another, Eddington, and No Other Choice were my favorites. My wife and I also managed to watch several TV series - with Andor’s season two (must watch) and The Rehearsal being the standouts.

• I kept enjoying board games as a way to spend time with family and friends. Last year, I wrote that one board game I’m most intrigued to play more of in 2025 is Dune Imperium: Uprising. It’s absolutely excellent and one that I’m always getting to the table. Slay the Spire is the top co-op game that we played together with my wife, and I’m subscribed to its expansions’ Kickstarter campaign. Finally, Feed the Kraken and Wavelength resulted in me laughing the most at a table.

• Chess remains a hobby. While I rarely get the opportunity to play in person, I thoroughly enjoy the simultaneous exhibitions put on by Vilnius Chess Club. I managed to score very well in 2025 - two wins and a draw out of the three times that I attended. There’s also the Vilnius IT Chess League, where I’m playing as a member of Vinted’s team, and we’re leading the tournament after 9 rounds, with 5 more to go.

• Vinted is doing well in other areas beyond chess events, and I continue to relish being part of it. The company keeps on growing, and even after 13 years in, still feels like it’s only the beginning of a long journey.

• Even if I wrote several interesting reflection during 2025, my most viewed blog post in 2025 was one from 2023: Recommended Software Engineering Books.

• Naturally, my wife and I took fewer trips this year. Our only vacation outside of Lithuania was in Lermoos, where we stayed in a family-focused hotel. We were both more anxious than usual travelling with our son for the first time, but everything went smoothly.

• I’ve mainly focused on some strength and flexibility training in 2025, deprioritising running. I want to run a full marathon someday, but before then, I need to improve my flexibility and stability. I was able to ignore various pains while running 50-70km weekly, but I don’t want to try that with an even longer distance.

(also, I had to wait for my son to reach 9-12 months before jogging with a stroller becomes ok)

• It’s a cliche, but it feels that our son grew really fast during 2025. He’s active and curious, lately exploring our home with his hands on the walls and furniture. His curiosity extends to other people, and sometimes he seems even more sociable than his introverted dad.

• My wife and I were fortunate when it comes to our son’s sleep. We never experienced wake-up-every-hour-or-two. Our son’s sleep developed pretty much by the book. Even growing teeth or having a cold resulted in a relatively minor disturbance to his sleep schedule.

(I’m knocking on wood as I write this)

• Our cats (Athos and Portha) are well. They’ve adjusted well to our son. While Portha still keeps our son at arm’s length, Athos is okay allowing our son’s attempts to caress.

• Our family started preparing to move to a different flat this year. After more than five years at our current place and a ton of great memories, this will be a significant event in 2026.

Writing a yearly reflection assumes a neatness that life doesn’t really have. 2025 doesn’t feel like a contained thing to me. It feels like a before-and-after, with the line drawn very clearly in March.

I started this post by apologising for being late. In hindsight, that feels appropriate. This year didn’t lend itself to quick summaries or timely conclusions.

The list above is accurate, but it only captures what happened, not how priorities and attention were re-ordered. The most important changes don’t reduce well into bullet points.