Cuppa didn't get to bed until late last night. Apparently I should have heeded the wise advice from my friend NoVa and not given her that sugar filled cupcake right before bedtime! Though it could have also been her excitement over her new Laugh & Learn House. She must have crawled circles around and through that thing for an hour straight. She also LOVED that her Daddy could crawl through the door. (Mommy didn't try. I worried about how I'd have to explain to the ER docs how I managed to get a toy house stuck around my hips).
It was a good day. Cuppa and I played, laughed, snuggled. I looked back at pictures of her as a newborn and small infant and told her the story of how she was born. She must have known that her first birthday was as much a celebration for her Daddy and I as it was for her, because it almost seemed as though she was consoling me throughout the day and letting me know that while she wasn't that tiny, helpless newborn any longer, she still needed me. And she assured me, through her mischievoous play, that the fun was just beginning.
I can't wait.
For fun, a look at how she's changed in her first year:
I loved this hat that the hospital gave to her when she was born. It SWAM on her. She was such a tiny thing, weighing only 5lbs. 3oz, but she was absolutely perfect with her round head (thanks to my c-section) and cute button nose. I stared at her for hours and just couldn't believe that she was really mine.I have never felt more complete than I did the moment I first held her and she looked at me with her big bright eyes. It was as though I had known her my entire life, even though we had just "met" for the first time. It's so strange to realize that the tiny person you hold in your arms is the same one who kicked and squirmed inside your belly for 9 months. It's just so surreal.
It amazed me how quickly she grew and changed. It was like every time she stretched she grew and every time I blinked she changed on me. Those first few weeks she did little other than sleep, poop and eat. Nursing was a challenge, but I loved it. I think she did too. She gained weight quickly and steadily.
By one month, she didn't even look like the same baby to me:
She was smaller than her toy octopus and kept sliding down in the glider as we tried to take her picture. Even the sign seemed HUGE compared to her.This was the time in her life that we could take her out to a restaurant and she'd sleep the entire time. Oh how things have changed! She was such a little peanut and I remember how excited I was (and a little sad) when she outgrew her premie clothing and was solidly in the newborn size.
She learned so much this first year. She was sitting up on her own by 4.5 months. She rolled over shortly thereafter too. She was slow to crawl and we joked that she was going to be the baby who sat and waited for the world to come to her. Everyone told me to appreciate her before she was mobile because life would change majorly when she moved. They were right!!
By her first Thanksgiving she was army crawling (at just shy of 10 months) and babbling up a storm and by Christmas she was a speed racer on 4 limbs. She started pulling up on anything taller than her at that time too (which in her world was basically everything!) and began cruising the furniture too. She started taking assisted steps with her walking/push toys around 11 months and now runs around the house with them. She still won't stand on her own or take her unassisted steps, but I have no doubt those achievements are just around the corner.
She has amazed me every day of her life and challenged me equally as much. Motherhood has been hard, fun, and nothing short of incredible. I can only imagine what the next year will bring. But I am ready for the challenge and excited to see what new things she has to teach me. Because let's face it, as parents, we are truly the students when it comes to raising a child. For today though, I am just going to soak in my new one year old toddler and enjoy every moment.
wonderful, may!
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