At one year

I'm about a week overdue for this post, so here goes nothing...

I can't believe my baby girl is already a 1 year old! August 15th, 2008, at around 10:30 pm, I knew the contractions were different and that we were safe to head to the hospital. Finally, after 3 days of contractions 6-8 mins apart, I was in real labor and about to meet my little girl. After a fairly easy labor and delivery Evelyn Margaret was born at 9:22 am August 16th, 2008. Not a day has gone by since then where she hasn't amazed me.

Then: 8lbs 1oz, 21 in


Now: 21lbs 4oz, 29 in
Earlier this week we had her one year check up at the pediatrician's office. She's around the 50th percentile for height and weight. She also had to get three shots - Hep A, Hep B and Prevnar. No MMR or chicken pox vaccines until the next appointment, which I was surprised about since most doctors do those at the 12 month visit. I think Evie didn't get them because she was still playing catch up on her Hep B shot. Anyways, she was a trouper while getting them. She cried, of course, but quickly calmed down when I got to pick her up and give her lots of hugs and kisses. She turned around and gave the nurse an evil glare. In my head she was definitely saying "you bitch!" with a glare like that. Not sure where she would have inherited a glare from. :-)

She has changed so dramatically over the past 12 months. Gone from a tiny baby barely able to open her eyes to an ever independent growing almost toddler. She's butt scooting (mixed in with a bit of crawling), standing, and trying so hard to walk. She talks up a storm with a vocabulary of Mama, Dada, hi, bye, dog, bear, book, duck, yes and no consistantly, and ball, milk, baby and up inconsistantly. She uses hi and bye to flirt with every person we see out in public, especially little kids. She is completely off of bottles and baby food purees, prefering sippy cups of whole milk and finger food versions of whatever we're eating. We're getting full 10.5-12 hour nights of sleep, with two 1.5 hour naps a day. Every day she asserts herself more and more, letting you know exactly what she wants and when she wants it. I can definitely feel the dramatic toddler in her emerging each day, much to my dismay. Part of me wants to hold onto the baby in her, but a bigger part of me looks forward to what changes this next year will bring.

If this past year is any indication of how fast the rest of my life is going to flash before me I can definitely see where people fear getting older, lol. This past year has been the best of my life thus far and I barely feel as though I've had a chance to fully enjoy it for how fast it has flown by!