One year old baby girl

I officially have a one year old!  Her party went by really fast, all the work I put into decorations and food over within an hour.  Such is life.  It all goes by too quickly. 

In the past two weeks since she has turned one, I have been more emotional than any other time since being pregnant and giving birth.  Summer has been walking for a month now and she’s too big for me to rock her to sleep anymore.  I haven’t been able to rock her for close to two months now.  She tries to fall asleep with me holding her, but she’s too long and can’t get her legs comfortable and can’t seem to find a place for her head that is not hitting my collar bone.  So, I rock her while I feed her, brush her teeth then down in the crib she goes.  Where she immediately lies down, cuddles her snoopy and goes to sleep.  She doesn’t need me to go to sleep anymore.  Every parents dream I guess.  But for me, that has been the saddest and hardest part.  I miss rocking and cuddling her to sleep.  I miss laying my head against hers and smelling her hair and stroking her face.  I miss having a baby-baby….

But she’s such a sweet and smart little girl.  She picked up walking in less than 3 days and is so independent.  She doesn't like to have any help, she doesn't like to hold our hand, she wants to do everything all by herself.  Sounds like someone else I know all too well….

I really wish I could slow down time, my days with her are so precious and in one blink of time she’ll be two…. or maybe twenty two.