Thy Will Be Done: Birthday Girl: 2

Dear Pumpkin Pie,

Ohhhhhhhh, can it be true? Are we really doing this again so soon? I know, I know, I’ve heard it from all the other mommies: time flies so fast, the years flash by and before you know it they’re walking and talking and graduating and placing grandbabies into your arms. And when the other mommies say that, I nod and smile, because it’s so true… of THEIR babies. Their babies ARE growing so fast! Every time I see them they’ve grown about a foot and are talking circles around me about things WAY beyond their years. Yes, other people’s babies grow so fast…

But not YOU! You’re supposed to be my baby forever. You’re not growing inches overnight, like those other babies. You look the very same every morning when I get come to get you: sitting up in bed, surrounded by your favorite stuffed toys, thwack-thwack-thwacking your dolphin or your giraffe or your head against the back wall of your crib. You smile big and bright because I’ve finally come for you. You giggle a bit as you hear the zipper on your jammie-jams, and then the giggles dissolve into goofy chatter as I change your soakered dipe. If I don’t move quickly enough, you let me know it. It is TIME. FOR. MILK. A nice, big cup of cold, delicious milk, as you sit in Mommy’s lap and she sips a nice, big cup of steaming, delicious coffee.

Sometimes we cuddle. You sip nice and slow and slowly, sneakily worming your way off your tush and onto your back, cuddled into my arm and my side. You smirk a little. You know the rules. You only get to lay down like a baby for your bedtime milk. The rest of the day you’re supposed to sit up straight like a big girl. But you’re so warm and squishy and cute, I just can’t resist.

Other times you’re a girl on a mission. You gulp the whole cup in a matter of seconds, as if you’ve just traversed the driest of deserts. In one fluid motion, you chuck your empty cup across the living room, wrangle your little body around in my lap to face me, and then slide down my front until your feet touch the floor, leaning against the couch. You are ready to play. Where’s Kitty? Where’s Turtle? Come on, Mom, get with it.

(Incidentally, it is REALLY time to stop throwing your cups when you’ve decided that you’re finished. You’re doing much better in the last month at handing it to me or placing it nicely on your tray, but every now and then you forget. Usually at a horrible time like during the middle of a sermon... crash! Or over a concrete floor… crack! Or on an airplane. That lady was NOT pleased to have your half-finished bottle of water nail her in the head.)

But when on earth, HOW on earth, did a whole year pass us by since you turned one? It’s cliché, I know, but it SERIOUSLY feels like just yesterday.

Then I read this, from your first birthday. And I looked through photos. And just for good measure, I went back through my facebook timeline.

And what. a. year it has been! Your first Presidential Election was just days after you turned one.

You got Pink Eye. You were still adorable.

You had your first night away from Mom and Dad. Go Pack! (Mom now has Pink Eye)

Your first sled ride.

You celebrated Aaron Rodgers Day. Hey, 12/12/12 only comes once in a lifetime!

You fell asleep in the tub for the first time.

Your first Minnesota Christmas.

You got a girl cousin!

You started sitting up on your own. All the time. At first you didn’t know how to get back down. A couple times, you fell asleep sitting up in your crib.

You became an OFFICIAL Redfield.

You traveled back to California and got loved up by some very special people who had missed you a lot.

You peed all over Mommy for the first time.

You started taking steps with “Pusher.”

You started to wonder (in May) how long it would be until football season again.

You crawled. Just the teeniest tiniest little bit. And I cried all afternoon.

You forgot that you love swimming.

You re-learned to love swimming.

You went to a Brewer game. It was hot. It was loud. You hated it. But you and your cousins sure were cute!

You got a birth certificate and social security number!

You started to be a “dramatic” eater. That is the nicest word I can think of.

You learned to pull yourself up to a standing position in your crib. And didn’t sleep for several days thereafter.

You loved being pushed in a swing.

You had to endure the Niners beating the Packers. Again.

You traveled back to California. Again.

You’re creeping along the furniture to get to your favorite toys.

Aaaaaand, I don’t have a picture, but you did AWESOME with your cousins yesterday. You are getting better and better with crowds and noise and being around other kids. You are growing into such a big, beautiful, amazing little girl!

So I guess it’s time to face the truth. It’s hard to see it when I spend every minute of every day with you, but when I look back at a whole year, I see what the other mommies see. Time really does go by in the blink of an eye. You grow stronger and smarter and sweeter each and every day, and Mom and Dad and so many others grow to love you more and more each moment. I pray God blesses us with many more years of blessings, watching you grow into the beautiful person He has designed you to be.

And maybe, next year, Mommy could bake cupcakes for you to EAT them instead of baking them just for birthday picture purposes. And then you having a tantrum. And then Mommy eating them all herself.