One Year Ago

It's hard to believe that one year ago, we had just found out I was pregnant. I don't think the reality fully sank in until she was born. What was a little clump of cells just 12 short months ago is now our lovely laughing Aurora. We waited for so long, wondering who this little person was going to be, and now she's finally here and we're learning more about her every day.

Here's some of what we know about her so far:

~She has a stubborn streak a mile wide, as we learned the past couple of months trying to get her to nap. She just wanted to hang out with the big people as much as possible, no matter how tired or cranky she got. It's much, much better now, but sometimes she still gets overtired, and now she does what we call the angry cry--instead of hysterical wailing, it's long, controlled, almost guttural cries, like she's slowly forcing the air out of her lungs because she's so. darn. mad. Unfortunately for her, it just makes us laugh because it's a lot cuter than you might think. And then we put her to bed and she goes right to sleep.

~She seems to be a bit of a drama queen. For instance, she hates the pacifier. Sometimes she gags and coughs before it even touches her lips. We've mostly given up trying, but it's not such a big deal now that she can put herself to sleep. Once in awhile she'll suck on her fingers, which is pretty darn cute.

~She's a talker, especially when she's tired. She'll jaw your ear off until you put her to bed. And she's delighted when you talk back to her--I think she really feels like she's having a conversation with you.

~These days, her favorite thing to do is lie on the floor, usually with her taggies, but if she doesn't have them, she finds plenty of ways to entertain herself. Like by holding her hand out in front of her and staring at it, trying to roll over from back to stomach, or clutching at and playing with her clothes. She'll lie there for hours, just hanging out with her peeps.

I can't wait to see what she's going to be like another year from now!