All about Clare

My baby turned one this weekend and became a toddler, literally and figurativly. Clare seemed to have a great time at her birthday party. Almost all of her relatives and a few friends came to help celebrate. It was a fun time and there was good food. Clare did amazingly well. She didn't have a meltdown towards the end of the party like Cate did on her first birthday. She just seemed to be having fun the entire time. And I've never seen a one year old eat birthday cake so neatly! She was all about not wasting a single bite. Another first that day was that she stood all by herself for a good 20 seconds! Maybe she just loves an audience.

That night when I was putting her to bed I got all teary thinking about the last year and all we'd been through with her. From bringing her home from the hospital and bringing her back a few days later with meningitis, to her first Christmas, to learning to eat big people food, to crawling, to fights with Cate, to standing all by herself. And poof, suddenly I don't have a baby anymore but a little toddler. She's already started not wanting to cuddle, has to be on the move. She's started protesting loudly at being taken out of the bath, at not getting her food in time, at having a toy taken away. The first tantrum is just around the corner. And, if today is any indication, she'll be walking then running all over the place in a few weeks. Today she was practicing the standing that she started yesterday and decided to throw a step in on one of them. Her first step, the day after her first birthday. So, goodbye baby, hello toddler. Sniff.