One Year

It's so hard for us to believe that we have had Eliza Faris in our lives for a whole year. I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately because I remember what I was feeling this time last year. **Please forgive me for this long, boring banter about my child.** I remember the last few weeks of my pregnancy and how we were convinced that she was coming early. I was dilated very early and all the signs told us that she was ready to come out. But she had her own schedule. We finally pressured her out on May 2, 2008, the day before her due date. In the delivery room, I had a kind of out-of-body experience. I didn't really appreciate the reality of what had just happened. My true first bonding experience with my baby was in the middle of the night in the hospital. I stayed in the hospital all alone both nights (it was wonderful!) and the nurses would bring EF to me every few hours to eat. I remember having the strangest feeling when they would call and say, "your baby is inconsolable...we are going to bring her to you to eat". I remember wondering what I was supposed to do with her after I nursed her. So I would just call them to get her because I wasn't sure what to do! I would learn a few days later that I wouldn't be able to call the nursery everytime I wanted some sleep!

The first few months of Eliza Faris' life were wonderful and tough at the same time. While she was a great baby in so many ways, she also cried constantly with reflux. It upset us so much to see her in pain and spent many nights looking at each other like, "what else can we do?". She would nurse and scream, sleep 30 minutes and scream. Finally, Zantac seemed to calm her symptoms and things got better. As for sleeping, at about 5 or 6 months, I was tired of the whole song and dance routine of getting her to go to sleep--the rocking, pacifier replacing, patting, singing, etc. After many a tearful conversation with my mom, I finally just went cold turkey. Baby goes in the bed at nap and bedtime and I left her there until she slept (as long as it took....no going on at intervals, etc). She screamed and screamed for several days, but finally got it. She learned to soothe herself and not rely on me or Caleb to rock her, hold her paci in, etc. She still whines when we put her to put and occasionally cries for a few minutes, but she knows why she's in the crib. I learned to respect her need to sleep! I would probably say that this one thing was the best thing I did for my child her whole first year. Now that she is 12 months old, she sleeps 11-12 hours at night uninterrupted and takes 1-2 naps. I don't have to worry about her falling asleep or waking in the night and falling back asleep. Remind me to do this with baby #2!!

Months 6-12 were a flurry of sitting up, crawling, pulling up, and finally cruising. I loved all of these stages and must say that it has only gotten crazier around here since her mobility has increased. I love how she holds her arms up to be held and points at everything that interests her. She says "da-da" "da-dee" to Caleb and occasionally says "hi!". She is extremely independent: plays by herself and rarely wants to be held during playtime. She is content with her toy and book baskets. Her favorite toys right now are the plastic bouncy balls we got her at Wal-mart! Occasionally, she needs help getting a toy out or reaching lammie in the crib. When she's tired, she loves her "lammie" and if it's in her sight anytime during the day, she has to have it. She drags it all over the house and it always comforts her when she's upset. Lammie has to be in the crib for sleeptime; although lately if she's not wanting to nap, she'll throw it out of the crib. She'll have to learn to hold onto him!

See my earlier post about eating time. I am really trying to concentrate on making our eating times pleasant for Eliza Faris. Battles at the table are typically won by her...and that's fine, but I'd rather not have the battles at all! EF still loves her bottle but also eats a variety of table foods.

Eliza Faris is such a good little girl. Everyone who has ever kept her has said how well-adjusted of a baby she is. She is definitely easy-going; although her strong-willed nature is starting to make her a little less predictable! She has the sweetest smile, the most beautiful blue eyes and long eyelashes, and the most petite, adorable frame. Her babble is song-like. When we go on walks and she rides on Caleb's chest in the carrier, she sings the whole way. It's so stinking cute and I'll be so sad when he finally decides Eliza Faris is too heavy to carry in that thing.

I am so glad that we were able to send her to mother's day out this year. I believe that she gained a lot of social skills as well as developed a strong relationship with her teachers. We are so thankful for Ms. Donna and Mrs. Ladonna for their time spent with our child as well as their listening ears and advice for mommy.

I'm sure that there's so much more I haven't talked about; however I just wanted to put down a few memories from the year. I'm sure this will only be interesting to me when I look back on it...but thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby girl! We are so proud of you and so blessed to be your parents!!