Another year around the sun...

What it means to be a parent is constantly changing. At first it's the strong, somewhat fearful cradle of an infant. The baby you wear on your body. Eventually the baby becomes mobile, and you become the doting helicopter parent swooping in to safety during the crawling years, then the walking. There's the baby talk that turns into conversations. There's the outgrown clothes that you get rid of month after month. There are the sweet little outfits she will no longer wear because she wants to pick out her own clothes now. The massive amounts of gear required to leave the house eventually turns into sunscreen and a granola bar shoved in your purse.

When you're in it these transitions don't seem so sudden. They slowly morph into your new reality. I think back to the crawling 6 month old who always wanted her mama. Today I sit on the porch as she rides her bike up and down the sidewalk.

I watch her now and I am beside myself. This tiny little being who lived in my belly has left infancy, has left toddlerhood, and is now a kid. I watch her being a kid and I am struck with the same love I felt the moment I first felt her small body on my stomach, only now the love has deepened and become a sturdy, proud gaze. I watch her need me less. Grow more. Learn every day.

The miracle of life continues to feel like a miracle.

Now she is four.

She is inquisitive and funny and charming. She is tall and beautiful. She loves her mommy and daddy. She loves her friends. She gets frustrated easily when things don't go her way. She is learning how to navigate her own emotions.

I sit back, not completely relaxed. I'm still on duty as the mom who will keep her child safe. But my how things have changed.

However do our hearts contain so much love?

Princess for a day

Beautiful love.

Two

Two years of personhood,

of growing strength,

of learning words.

Two years of fitting perfectly into this family.

Two years since we held that tiny little 8 pound baby

and two years of complete and crazy love. 

Now she's two. 

She's 28.6 lbs.

 She's 35 inches tall.

She's obsessed with drawing, 

(preferrably in ink, on the wall)

She loves the sandbox, the water table,

making fake dinners on her kitchen

and playing with her friends.

She cracks herself up when she pretends to be sleeping.

She leaves the bathroom and shuts the door whenever I turn on my hairdryer. 

She MUST have walrus, polar bear, penguin and duck in her bath. 

She says "peas" and "tank oo". 

She does things for herself.

She adores her mommy and daddy.

She has a laugh that is so infectious, so genuine.

She's two. And she's perfect.

We started a birthday tradition this year: balloons first thing in the morning. She just loved them. And I betcha she'll love them when she's 16, too!

A very low key party at the park. Nothing says fun like toddler glee...

Now THIS is serious business.

Lala made Ellie the coolest handknit birthday banner!

Birthday are exhausting!

Happy birthday baby. You make mama proud!