Sanity in Small Doses

Our little princess is going to be a 1 year-old in less than a month. As I said in my very first post when Brooklyn was turning 5 months old...where does the time go? This year has been the fastest year of my life and by far, the year where I learned the most. My sweet, precious daughter has taught me so much: patience is a must; how to get up and have the entire house cleaned by 9 a.m. (after all we were up, so why not!?!); mid-afternoon baths are so much fun; pulling things out of the dishwasher (dirty or not) is a much better game than her new ball popper; nothing is better in life than a wet kiss and little arms stretched around your neck in a hug; how DVDs, video games and books all look much better tossed on the floor as opposed to on the shelf; baby gates are really made for tossing toys and pacifiers over for Mommy and Daddy to chase rather than keep some little person safe; sippy cups are to be tossed on the ground after you are done taking a drink; mirrors are meant to play peek-a-boo with ourselves and see just how cute we really are.

I remember when we first brought her home from the hospital and she slept all day long and at night Daddy would swing her back and forth in her carseat to help her fall into a slumber. I remember when she first learned to hold her own head up and now she has learned and enjoys shaking her head "no" and nodding her head and her whole body "yes." I remember when she first learned to crawl and how she didn't know she could go anywhere she wants and now she leaves the family room and heads up to the living room all by herself. The time really does go by fast. And, seriously, where did our daughter go that just laid there and slept all day!?! She's turning into a toddler - that's where she went - and she's taking Mommy and Daddy along for the ride, and boy, are we glad she is!!