Where Have All the Babies Gone....?

...Long time passing. Okay, so it was more of a micro-second. I mean, really, I feel like Pearl was born such a short time ago. Does anyone else remember this day?

And this baby?

Although her babyhood is rapidly slipping away.

I mourn, but secretly I love pieces of each stage, so even as I cry for the infant Pearl, I adore the precocious toddler she is turning into. Although toddler is a relative term. See, a while back I mentioned that she was standing on her own and taking steps, and that I would get pictures of her walking shortly. Well, she never really got to the walking part. She still takes steps, but she is quite the hesitant little thing and almost always drops down to her knees to take off crawling across a space. Tyler was disturbed at the thought of her turning one and not walking so I have seen him coaxing her all over the house these past couple days. She has had many attempts with more than six steps in them, so he is officially calling her a walker. Meh...I'm not so sure. All our other children started taking steps and away they went. Naturally we assumed the same for Pearl, but on the contrary, I think she earns the title of slowest walker. (Pearl, please do not be offended by this, it is completely normal to walk around your first birthday. I promise, no therapy is needed, and as long as you keep your grades up, we won't call you the slow child. Much.)

You all know that Pearl is the fifth child and never has it shown more than today. We basically did nothing for her birthday. I didn't get her presents because she has plenty of toys and clothes. I forgot to get her a balloon, but don't worry, we'll get one soon. I didn't feel like making a cake, so we had cookies instead.

But they were really good cookies and Pearl thoroughly enjoyed hers.

 
I did have this bomb-slamming idea to do a time capsule, and have the kids put stuff in there for her, but it didn't pan out for this evening. I will try to get my act in gear. But really, she didn't notice. Pearl was just her happy self today.

Some notes on Pearl:

She loves helping with laundry. She pulls clothes out of the baskets and plays with underwear and socks longer than some of her toys.

Daisy may love Pearl the most. Whenever Pearl cries, the first person on the scene trying to comfort her, is Daisy. It's really sweet.

Pearl eats. A lot. She is willing to try almost any food and refuses only a few. We finally took her off formula and it has done wonders for her digestional track.

Pearl is very ticklish. The bottoms of her feet, the palms of her hand, and her armpits are her prime spots. She is understanding more and more about games. She peeks around corners in 'peek-a-boo' style, and her favorite game is still race-for-the-stairs-and-watch-mommy-run-after-me.

She is the squirmiest child ever when it comes to diaper changing. I constantly grab something to distract her, but it doesn't always work. Most of the time she escapes before I can finish snapping her onesie.

She doesn't like strollers or the shopping cart. She is good for about 15 minutes in the cart and then I have to hold her. (Did I mention that I don't like shopping with all the kids as much as I used to?) She detests the big strollers, but does okay in the umbrella stroller, but don't stop for too long, or she will let you hear about it. We only use it when we go to the library and then the kids take turns keeping her in constant motion while I check out the books.

She doesn't 'say' anything yet. She babbles a lot with the 'b' sound and it almost sounded like she said 'ball' the other day. I'm not going to count it though, because there is still a chance she might say 'mama' first.

She is very content in her crib. She doesn't cry in the mornings or at night. The only time she fusses is when she drops her bear over the edge. (Which is frequently, since she loves the game of drop-that-object. I thought that game was amusing until she got my cellphone.) I finally caught her sucking on her finger and holding her bear's arm. It is how she goes to sleep every night.

I love Pearl so much. Happy Birthday Baby.