My Little Girl is ONE!!!

I can't believe that my little Lydia Eileen is turning one year old today. The year has completely flown by and I'm going to do a little "year in review" of her life.

To start off with - the day she was born. The weather July 1, 2007 was beautiful. I woke up at 3:00ish a.m. with cramping. Thought it was the chicken nuggets I'd had for supper the night before. By 4:00ish it hadn't stopped and was actually getting stronger. We called the hospital and they said we could come in, but that if I wasn't in labor they would just send me home. We decided to just wait at home and I would try to rest. By 7:00 a.m. the cramps were pretty strong. I got up and got dressed, cleaned some things up, played with the dogs, and waited for Gail. He had a few chores to do before we left. We were at the hospital a little after 8:00 a.m.. They checked me out and I think I was at a 2. I was far enough that they didn't want to send me very far, but not far enough to get checked in. They sent me down to the first floor of the hospital to walk at about 9:00. The hallway makes a big circle with a hand rail all the way around. I walked and walked and walked. Thank goodness for that bar that gave me something to hold on to when a contraction came. After a few hours of that I went back up and got checked out again. This time I was at a 6. Walking really does help even thought it was uncomfortable. I decided to just stay in bed after that. I rested and visited for a the next several hours. At about 2:00 they had given me something to help speed up the labor progress because I was sorta stuck at a 9. This was followed with the epidural at about 3:30ish. At 4:30 the doctor said it was time. They got everything ready for me to start pushing and to take care of the baby afterwards. By 5:15 p.m. little Lydia Eileen made her way into the world at 8 pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done.

During the first two weeks of her life she woke up only once. Then she started sleeping all night long and still it. I remember the first night she did sleep all through the night I woke up scared to death. I just knew that something had happened to her. I went running in the nursery to make sure she was still breathing. At two months old she started "talking" to herself in the mirror, smiling, and rolling over. She weighed 12 pounds 6 ounces and was 25 1/4 inches long - long and skinny. At three months she would laugh at stuff and started eating baby food. Four months brought on a lot of new discoveries. She really got into toys, rolling everywhere, Christmas lights, and the PHONE. Five months was the push-up stage and squealing. Six months was a huge change for Lydia. She weighed 16 pounds and was 28 3/4 inches. She went from sitting up to crawling overnight, I swear. She also got her first two teeth. Seven months was the the first word - dada. She also waved bye bye, clapped, and stood up to things. Eight months was standing all by herself, saying mama and hi. This was also when she stayed away from home for the first and only time. We went to Kansas City for a wedding and had to stay in a hotel. It went much better than I had expected. At nine months she started walking. She also discovered "The Beverly Hillbillies" television show and loves it. At ten months she had her first experience with going up steps (she is fast). She got her first top tooth, first pop cycle, first sucker, for four wheeler ride, and first time walking across the room to give mom and hug. During month eleven she ate everything, started running, will go up and down stairs, shakes her head no, started saying "night, night" and "nan-na" (banana). She also got her first boo boo from falling down in the driveway. She had to have a band-aid and mom about cried. Today she starts month twelve and an entire new set of adventures and discoveries. I can't wait to watch her grow even more and to see the beautiful little toddler that I know she'll be.

Thank you to all of you who have helped me with advice, shared stories with me, and helped in her growing to the wonderful one year old that she is now. It has been a wonderful ride.

Until next time...