In the blink of an eye

One year ago today, I wrote this post, and then 13 hours later, this happened.

Goodness how the year has flown. It's hard to believe that the tiny, four pound, 13 ounce bundle who gave us such a scare is one now.

Elizabeth has changed and grown so much, but she is still has her sweet little personality, with a lot of spunk thrown in for good measure. She is definitely holding her own in our family, including screeching at Campbell when he swipes toys from her.

She still doesn't crawl, but she has mastered pulling on everything she can get a hold of, including, but not limited to, the coffee table, my pants legs, kitchen chairs, and the toilet (eww). Elizabeth is now also cruising around the coffee table and along the edge of the sofa. I don't think she's going to be walking on her own any time soon, but this is a good start.

Elizabeth is a world-class flirt, and she definitely knows what the camera is and performs for it. I was hoping to get her one tooth in the picture, but Elizabeth didn't want to cooperate that much.

I'm working on weaning Elizabeth, but it's slow going. She still views bottles and sippy cups at toys rather than sources of nourishment. She is very good at eating finger foods, though. Scrambled eggs and cheese are a particular favorite, and this afternoon she'll be experiencing cake and ice cream for the first time.

I confess, I've been a bit sad this week about Elizabeth's getting older. She's definitely and for sure my last baby, and she's getting so big so fast. I feel like I missed a lot of the joy of having a baby in the house with the stress of hospital bills and insurance fights and the exhaustion of managing four kids. The first six months were particularly rough.

This past week, though, Elizabeth has been especially snuggly at night, falling asleep with her head on my shoulder after her 10:00 pm feeding. She almost never does that, so it's been a special treat to have this sweet time with her. I hold her for as long as I can, feeling the rise and fall of her breaths and watching her eyelids flutter as she dreams. Before I know it, she'll be like my almost 9-year-old, who is getting too cool to let me cuddle her.

Happy birthday tiny girl! I hope the next year is as wonderful as the first.