The Girl is one year old today.
Such a change 365 days can make:
Almost triple what she weighed when she was born, and double the length. She’s walking, playing hide-and-seek with me, understanding “No” (imperfectly, but it’s a start), showing “zaba” and “kaczka” in her picture books when asked (“frog” and “duck” respectively), holding out her arms when being dressed — all within a year.
Enjoy the progress, L, because you’ll never grow — mentally and physically — so much in one year again.
Happy Birthday, L! It’s amazing how quickly they grow and how much they learn. I read somewhere that in the first year, the child’s brain triples in weight and makes a huge number of connections between their neurons (can’t remember if it was hundreds of millions or more). It is indeed true that they’ll never grow and never learn so much in one year. It must be amazing to look through all the photos.
Made me cry. As I welcome back home for the holidays my little girl of 26 and my littlest one of 22.
I think of what you wrote and I agree, but only to a point. The change from one day to one year was nothing to me, their mom, compared to the change from when they became women, not my little children anymore. For the older it happened in college, for the younger one it happened just this year, when she moved to her own apartment in Cambridge. Their brains may have remained the same size and their skills may not have advanced monumentally (though one hopes they did at least a little), but suddenly they are adults, taking on the world on their own. I weave in and out of their lives still, but they are their own people. The difference is profound.
Happy Birthday L! Your coming changed my whole world – from the better to the much better – NO!…to the fantastically better! When I first held you in my arms a mere 365 days ago I knew then we had bonded… forever!
This past year I have hung onto the moment of your eyes first seeing, your first smile, your first laughter, the first time you crawled and now you’re walking.
I look forward to your first day in school, your first dance, your first…anything. I simply look forward to you.