Sylvie's first birthday!!!

Wow. Has it really been a whole year already? Has it really been 365 days since our wee one switched from quasi-amphibian to full on oxygen breather? Wow...just wow. Amazing to think how different she is now from when she first came into our lives, all blob-like and covered in cream cheese. Amazing to realize that so many of the feelings that I'd felt before her birth, and thought were the deepest most profound emotions one could have, were but ripples on the surface of what I realize I am capable of experiencing now. A couple of people I'll call "Stinky-Goo-Head" and "Slimy-Muck-Ball" (please know these are actually terms of great affection) have told me that I worry too much about Sylvie's various and sundry health issues. I don't agree; I think I worry about as much as your average new parent. However, I do probably harp on the more negative things health wise with Sylvie on this blog...mostly because I need to vent about them. And I'll admit that I've worried incessantly about Sylvie's growth and weight gain (or lack thereof) and I've filled sheet after sheet of paper with the details of Sylvie's diet, what she's eaten, how many calories she's taken in in a given day. I've worried about how she's yet to crawl or pull up or stand unassisted especially when I've been around other moms whose children, though a month or two younger than Sylvie, are 10 lbs heavier and toddling around like pros. I know that all kids develop differently and at their own rates, yet I've worried. But the other day, I was paging through What to Expect the First Year, something I do only rarely because it has so often fed my fears rather than soothed them and I happened to read the milestones for a kid her age and I gotta tell ya...she's above average on just about everything but the standing up thing. I've been afraid to be "that mom", ya know, the one who goes on and on about how gifted her kid is and such. Well, forget that, because I'm going to take this opportunity to puff up with mommy pride and relate to you all of the things our Sylvie is doing. She speaks! momma, daddy, kitty, doggy, Izzy, booby (and yes it means she wants mama juice), hi and bye (with a wave!) and mmm! (which doubles for "I'm hungry" and "that looks tasty can I try some?") Sylvie the Action Figure! clapping, pointing, "conducting", "singing" and bouncing to music, can roll a ball back and forth to us, plays peekabo, stacks/unstacks rings, recognizes people in photos AND she's finally started pulling up into a standing position with a little help from Theron and I. She's just incredible, our girl. Everyday she grows more and more amazing and beautiful and...wow. Just wow. Happy birthday baby! Love, mommy and daddy.