it's a birthday filled week: guest blogger rachael!

it's almost time for the party to start-while you wait for a party post check out some of the amaizing guest posters that i have this week! stella has some really awesome people who love her!

i asked my long long time friend's wife rachael to chime in today. she is an amazing writer (her blog) and mother to two beautiful kids-one of which who is one! let'shear what advice she can give to stella and i!

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So often as a parent you are pulled emotionally in two directions at the same time. You so look forward to watching your child change and grow, while not wanting to let go of where they are now. For me, my baby turning one was NOT one of these times. There was only one emotion and it sounded something like “Nooooooo!”. I was desperate to avoid the loss of “babyhood”, aching to keep my sweet boy small, still willing to rock and nurse and still needing me more than anyone else in the world. I yelled at friends who dared use the word “toddler”, dreaded the days leading up to the event, and made many a mountain out of molehills. The day of his first birthday party, I had a meltdown of epic proportions -about frosting of all things – the utensil-throwing-drawer-slamming-leave-mommy-alone-while-she-freaks-out kind of meltdown that comes out of nowhere and can only happen when the problem is Definitely. Not. Frosting.

I was reeling, really. It didn’t help that I had lost my mom two months before, my mind often slipping back to the fact that his grandma wouldn’t see him turn one. Nor did it help that it was becoming apparent I would be going back to work soon, leaving my NOT toddler with a daycare for the first time. I was a mess. Landon wasn’t my first baby but it had been 10 years, so I’d forgotten that there are positives to this transition.

A first birthday is not the end of your relationship with your “baby”. In fact, it’s just the beginning.

 LJ is now 19 months old. He’s an amazing bundle of energy and an unending source of joy. Over the last 7 months, my baby has become a boy. His first wobbly steps have turned into a confident walk and run, independently climbing on chairs and couches and going up and down stairs. To say that the second year is a language explosion is an understatement – the words that he learns every day bring surprise and laughter to our home. His facial expressions are priceless, he sleeps through the night, and he can “help” bring stuff to Mama or Daddy or put his shoes in his room. Every single day, he amazes me.

 So Melissa, take a moment to say goodbye to your baby Stella. Examine her face, the roundness of her cheeks, the pudgy little fingers on her oh-so-soft hands. These things won’t change overnight, but they will change. Gratefully, with that change will come the discovery of a person – one who may not need you as much as they used to, but who loves you with every ounce of their being. And they’ll say so.

Just this week, Landon started to say “Love you!”. He’ll probably stop soon because I make him repeat it so often, but it is so incredibly gratifying, so capable of brightening even the worst day, so AMAZING to hear that you’ll actually be glad that you weren’t actually able to keep your baby a baby after all.

 Happy Birthday, Stella. Don’t forget as you run off to discover the world to come back to Mama every now and then to say “wa-woo!”