My Baby
Yesterday my baby turned 3.
I find this incredibly hard to believe. Where did this year, or the last three for that matter, go?
We survived the first two weeks of her life when she was attached to monitors and being fed with a tube stuck up her nose. (Now those are blackmail baby pictures. Forget the bath pictures.)
Then we survived the first months home when we had NO IDEA what we were doing. (And I'll admit...we still have no idea. Poor kid gets to be our guinea pig.)
We survived the first day at daycare at 6 months old. Although there were many tears on my part all the way to work. She was completely oblivious of course.
We survived the first year, and she finally began to crawl and cut those stupid teeth.
We survived learning to walk without any major bumps or bruises and now she runs everywhere. I don't think "walking" is actually in her vocabulary.
We survived the second year and learned how to see the world through her eyes. Some of the things that made her eyes light up were wonderful. That year also brought the first major sickness that I believe was my official initiation into motherhood. The changes from that second year were just amazing. I didn't think we could ever top the amount of development we witnessed that year.
But now we've officially survived the third year, and I was so wrong. She seemed to develop right in front of me, and I know we're in for a ride with some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth. She is brilliant. And I can say that without bias; I'm her mother.
We survived (if you could call it that) the "terrible twos." There are some days I'm surprised she survived, but we all made it through with minimal damage (at least until she begins therapy and learns how her mother ruined her life). I know there is no magic switch when they turn 3, and she won't suddenly be an angel all the time. But I still feel like we've reached a major milestone.
I'm just so proud of her and the wonderful addition she has been to our family. I know she will be a great big sister, even if she might be slightly disappointed when the baby's name isn't Dora or Boots. I simply can't imagine my life without her.
