My Birthday Girl!

Today is e-baby's birthday, and in the last few weeks we've watched her transform-- so fast you can hear it-- from a baby into a toddler. Along with walking and talking has emerged an interest in actively involving herself in the world around her: she wants to walk to the mailbox, and take the mail out, and eat it herself. She wants to drink her water and use her spoon without any help. She wants to push the stroller, not ride in it. She will chase down the neighbor's dog and climb on mommy's bike and open the bag of goldfish crackers and play with the older kids in the neighborhood. She will not be tied down.

For example... yesterday at grocery store, she was pushing the shopping cart down the cracker aisle when she was sidetracked by the Wall Of Goldfish. You know the one- it's about 10 feet wide and All Goldfish. At e-baby height were the large Goldfish cartons that look like cereal boxes. With a joyful gleam, she started at one end and threw the boxes at the front of the shelf to the floor one by one, singing an e-baby song as she went. How could I get mad? It was hilarious! I couldn't put them back on the shelf as fast as she pulled them down, so she had to be redirected while I reshelved the crackers. Luckily for e-baby there was a display of bananas right across the aisle. We took home two bunches to avoid getting the stink-eye from a store manager.

But for all her toddlerishness, she's still my little baby. She's cuddly, and sweet, and non-manipulative, and too young to feel jealous when another kid takes her toys. Soon she'll move up to the 1-year-old class at daycare where she'll learn new tricks. But for now, I'll luxuriate in the snuggles.

I've said it before, but I always thought that love for my child would be like love for my parents, or SNG, only moreso. It isn't. It is total and unconditional. The love gets bigger and stronger all the time, to the point that it's overwhelming. There's nothing else like it. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even my old size 6 butt. I'm excited about the next year, and the next, and the next....

Happy Birthday, e-baby!