Monday Morning Mia

Happy Birthday Mia!
Today is Mia's first birthday. She was born at 3:05pm on a cold February day just like today.



It is truly miraculous to be here, one year on, with our amazing daughter. We waited so long for her, and now that she's here we can't even begin to imagine that there was life without her.

Mia is so much more "kid" now than baby. Gone are the chubby arms and legs, replaced by thinner and sturdier limbs for walking, grabbing and climbing. She is taking five or six steps at a time now, and practically running from room to room to find something interesting/dangerous to play with.

Our one time picky eater has become a voracious consumer of all things delicious. Yesterday she had meatballs, kalamata olives, calamari and lemon slices. Her palate definitely leans toward the more savory and tangy. Oddly, when I was pregnant I craved beef and oranges, and those seem to be her favorites.

Even while she is eating more and more each day, we are still nursing. I am proud that we made it to the year mark, although now that we are here I'm not exactly sure how to stop. Nursing is Mia's way of checking in with me, when she's having fun or when she falls and hits her head. She used to take a bottle at night if she needed milk, but now it's all nursing all the time. I think she might just be struggling with walking and other developmental things and once she figures those out she'll go back to sleeping well, but in the meantime the nights are reminiscent of a year ago, waking up every two or three hours to feed her.

As I re-read what I have just written, it feels like an incomplete list. Mia's developmental milestones don't adequately describe her. She's so much more than just the sum of her accomplishments--she's a beautiful and amazing mix of spunkiness and charm and love and kindness and beauty. As I watch her in the moonlight as we nurse, her eyes closed happily, I can't believe we are so lucky to have this joyous being to call our daughter. While I can't wait to watch her continue to grow, I at the same time want to freeze her in this moment, before she's too big to hold in my arms, before she no longer needs me every time she falls down or wants a snack. A friend told me that her mother told her that parenting is really just learning to let go. I don't want to believe this to be true, yet at this point I can see the validity of those words. For now, though, I want to hold on just a little longer.

Happy First Birthday, Mia.