It is amazing how quickly a year passes by as a new mom watching her child change and grow. Many would think that being at home with a baby all day every day would slow time down, but I can testify how busy being a stay-at-home mom can be. I can still hardly believe sometimes that this adorable baby girl is mine, let alone that she is almost one year old! Now I can somewhat understand how the next 20 years can go by in a flash.It is truly fulfilling to watch her change every single day and improve in the smallest of ways. She is finally beginning to take longer strides of walking by herself, descending the stairs on her stomach backwards, and even getting the spoon to her mouth, even if it's upside down.
Just yesterday we celebrated with family Elli's first birthday. My excitement caused me to go a little overboard, but in the end, we were happy with the results. My mom was more than happy to give up her house for the event, and my husband was more than helpful with everything I had concocted.
I had planned to sleep over at my parents' house in the extra room that my sister and her husband and kids were not sleeping in. However, with as many grand kids as my parents had they were still unprepared for three at once who all needed a crib. The little birthday girl was then forced to sleep on the floor, wedged between the bed, the wall, and a desk. This made it much more difficult to get her to sleep, as she is smart enough now to know when she's not in a real bed. I tried laying next to her, but her fingers wouldn't stop crawling over my face, up my nose, or into my mouth. I tried sitting by her but then she wanted to sit up with me and have me hold her, which I knew wouldn't work and never has. So I left her with my husband, who, with his magical touch, put her to sleep within minutes. How grateful I was for him and for the next two hours we spent making cake balls. (I recommend coating with some sort of chocolate, not frosting, by the way).
The next morning, after about five hours of restless sleep, making sure my baby didn't try to suffocate herself on the floor, I awoke to her complaining and found her on the floor halfway under the bed. Somehow during her sleep she had army crawled under the corner of the bed. Later in the morning I hijacked a crib and she fell asleep for a long nap without a sound.
We spent the morning preparing for the oncoming of at least 20 people, who were all immediate family and two close friends. I had made Elli's cake from a healthy recipe I found online (I added some powdered sugar to the frosting so she would actually eat it), I had taken any photos I had of her as well as a hand and foot print, and used these to decorate, and I waited almost until the last minute to put Elli in her "birthday dress" I had made for her. The dress made it difficult for her to crawl, and at first she became very frustrated, until she learned that if she walked on her hands and feet with her butt in the air it didn't get in the way. This also forced her to walk more, which was an unforeseen bonus.
The party itself was splendid. We had an 18 minute video in the background I had put together with all of Elli's pictures and videos growing up, we had plenty of food and cake balls for everyone's pleasure, and Elli loved the frosting on her cake (which was about all she ate). Passed around from person to person, fed strawberries and olives, given presents and getting her picture taken, Elli absolutely loved all the attention. She smiled and giggled and kissed anyone who asked for it.
For all the trouble I went to because of how much I just love my baby and wanted to show her off, it was all worth it. It will be one to remember. Especially with the video I made, since it almost makes me cry every time I see it and we'll have it forever and always.
Every day there's something new to love about my baby. Every day I love seeing her when she wakes up and gives me a huge smile. Every day I love watching her learn more and more, even on her own. I could never give up this life or this career for anything else, and no one should think anything less than how amazing and fulfilling this job is. I love being a mom.
