Because of this, I sort of gave up on the concept of the blog, and used 420 characters or less to post my random thoughts on facebook. Every now and then I have developed ideas on which I wanted to expand my opinion, but never returned to the world of the web for it. Catching up on a friend's blog, I decided to give my poor page an update.
Natalie is now 8 months old. I LOVE being a mommy. I have -never- experienced happiness such as this. Everyday I look forward to something new. I sometimes look back at my life before her, and just marvel at how much we have already grown together. What a difference there is in the way I view the world. She has made me softer, yet stronger. Has developed, and tested, my patience in ways I never thought possible. I feel so much more mature, and am beginning to lose sight of the things that were so important to me before, because honestly, most of them were petty. She makes me laugh and be thankful for every day I am alive. I have also felt my worse when she feels hers. Even the way my brain now function surprises me. She is constantly in my thoughts. 24/7 there is Natalie somewhere on the brain. I never imagined that one little person could make such a big difference!
Milestone wise, Natalie is one smart tot. She began sitting before 5 months, began to crawl at 5 months, and had it perfected by 6. Shortly after she mastered crawling to sit, sit to crawl, climbing, standing, walking along the furniture, and now her newest feat is that she can stand by herself for a small period of time. She has even taken little steps from one holding position to another! [The wall to the baby gate, the coffee table to the couch, etc] She doesn't say words yet, instead she has her "Shout-Speak" She makes the silliest expressions, and has a shout to talk.
My grandfather just sent me dvds of me: age 4 days - 2 years. Now that was hilarious to watch! Natalie looks just like her Daddy, but guess who she acts EXACTLY like?!?! Even down to the shout-speak. At one part in the dvd, I am 7 months, and crawling, climbing, and standing, up to my sister's high chair and smacking it. We had the same facial expressions. After watching the video, David shook his head and said he couldn't believe how identical we were. He is now worried for his future!
Another weird aspect to the DVD was seeing my parents. I guess I never realized that they had lives before becoming my Mom and Dad. I am just a few years younger than them at this point in our lives, so it was a bit of a shock to see them at my age. How they acted, looked, talked. I got teary eyed listening to my Mom talk with such pride about her new-born Christmas baby. I can't even explain the emotions it brought watching her look down at me and hold me at only 4 days old. It brought back the feelings with Natalie as a newborn, and reminded me of that strong bond we as mothers have for our children. It's an experience her and I now share. It is so true that it takes you having a child to truly appreciate everything your parents did for you. Although I was such an angelic child, I know I had [and still have] my fair share of selfish and bratty moments. I may not always understand why my parents do the things they do, but I can now understand that no matter what, it is always with love that they do it.
I think this will be the end of my welcome back blog. Hopefully following my friends who update more often will keep me motivated to let out my thoughts once and a while. It was nice to not have to "Edit" by minimizing how many characters I wrote :)
