Happy Birthday

Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, can’t you see, sometimes your words just hypnotize me.

Well, we now have a little talker on our hands. And, yep, she confirmed what I’ve known for a while – she likes her daddy best. Her mommy may argue that point, but why else would her first word be “daddy?”

This is my first time giving an update on the blog – mommy has provided all of the posts up until now. (And after starting out like I did, I realize this may be my last.)

But today is Taylor’s 1st birthday, and the excitement of the milestone and the astonishment that the first year has passed already has me feeling rather expressive. It has been a week of big milestones, and I’m so proud of my little girl. Saying her first word, taking her first steps, and turning one – all in the same week! Growing up so fast…

I almost want it to slow down so I can have a chance to soak up every moment and relish in every little milestone. But it just goes by in a blur. Just flashes of memories of Taylor sleeping on my legs no bigger than my forearm, afternoons of bouncing her in the bjorn to get her to nap, the nights of waking her up every couple of hours, her first bath, her first solid food, her first tooth, her first cold and how her parents completely overreacted, getting up on her knees for the first time, learning to wave, to stick out her tongue, to play peekabo… Like I said, a blur.

It feels like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. She has grown and developed so rapidly. And lord knows, she has not wasted a moment sitting still. The ultrasound techs tried to warn us when each time we went they commented about how active her legs were and how we were in for it. They’re good, those Abington ultrasound techs. But I wouldn’t want her any other way. So bright, and so full of life. Okay, so maybe a little aggressive at times – tackling her little cousin and trying to pull his face off every week she sees him at Grammy’s – but we can look past that, right?

As I sit here and reflect, what a rush of emotions. (One thing that’s been clear for a while now is that I have become a sap every since this whole baby thing started.) Everyone says that the day your baby is born is the best day of your life and that the feeling is indescribable. But until I experienced it, I had no way of really comprehending how breathtaking and overwhelming and special that feeling really is. Such a powerful experience, and I am so thankful for having been able to experience it.

Well, Happy Birthday Taylor. I love you, and your Mommy loves you. You have brought so much joy to our lives, and we look forward to every day that we get to spend with you and watch you grow.