Happy first birthday Beatrix! Trixie, BeeBee, Tricky, Sunflower, Trix– you accumulated a lot of nicknames this year! Gosh, these last twelve months have flown by so quickly! You are such a special part of our family and so beloved by your teachers at daycare. People often comment on your “chill” personality and of course your big brown eyes!
We had a little birthday breakfast at home, then you went to daycare together, and this evening Grammy and Papa came over for dinner, presents, and birthday cake! You were so funny with your cake– you had no interest touching it, but enjoyed being fed spoonfuls of cake! Like a queen!
In the time we have gotten to know each other, I think you will be more outgoing than Nadia and perhaps our whole family! We recently went to Busch Gardens and you made so many friends by making silly faces at strangers in line! Another difference is that you rarely get spooked by loud sounds like the blender or coffee grinder. In fact, a few days ago you feel asleep while I held you at the Christmas parade despite the cold weather and drumming of the marching bands.
The biggest highlight this month is watching you learn to walk! You can take a string of about 5-6 steps now! Nadia has been so encouraging when she sees you walking and your teachers are so proud of you!! You still crawl and gesture to be picked up often, but I love watching you walk.
It makes me so happy to hear you say “mama,” since for months you could only say “dada.” Although, I hear “mama” so often because you get so offended when I leave the room or walk by without taking you with me. Nadia will say, “I want to hug Trixie but she only wants to hug YOU!” I guess you’re a big mama’s girl.
As I reflect on your first year, so many things felt so much easier compared to Nadia’s first year. While I suspect your temperaments are different, I also realize parenting was much harder when we had to learn everything as it came! Realistic expectations about babies and a basic framework for the decisions around feeding, sleeping, and childcare basics really reduced the stress of parenting.
Most nights you go to bed around 8pm, but wake up around 10pm looking to nurse and cuddle. While you usually wake a couple times overnight, it’s been so much easier for me to get enough rest by having you sleep with me. Embracing the path of least resistance has been such a blessing. I’m sure one day I’ll be sick of breastfeeding and co-sleeping but for now it works for both of us. I’m very thankful to be able to offering a feeding while I’m half asleep vs. trying to sing lullabies and rock you back to sleep at 2am.
I also recognize how little unsolicited advice I received this year. I don’t know if it just looks like we know what we’re doing, but it’s been lovely not to second-guess every parenting decision!
It’s getting easier to navigate finding ways to lean into the joys of parenting without totally losing myself in the process. Fresh air and exercise really recharge my batteries and I have loved getting out for walks or pushing you on the swings at the playground! Likewise, we have found outdoorsy family time to be our happy place- we love trips to Lewis Ginter, camping, and taking nature walks.
Hindsight has also taught me that it was really stressful becoming a parent in 2020 during the pandemic. The stress of taking Nadia to the pediatrician every time she had congestion, a cough or fever to rule out COVID so that she could go to daycare. The added stress of worrying during social outings if it would be “worth it” if we all got COVID and had to piece together childcare and time off work for the next 10 days.
I didn’t feel comfortable risking the exposure from the gym until Nadia was about two years old, which meant I half-exercised between naps or while she was semi-occupied on the floor with me. Now I realize how good it has been for my mental health to be able to exercise at the gym on Saturday mornings and to bring you to the childcare room. I see how helpful it was to have the encouragement, “It’ll get better!” from my gym friends on the mornings when you didn’t like the nursery and one of us left the gym class a little early.
So perhaps I want to say thank you for showing me how much I have grown as a parent. I realize how hard some of that stuff was with Nadia and it’s been nice to have the chance to do it again but with more rest and support.
Happy birthday sweet girl. You are such a blessing to our family. I can’t wait to continue to see the smart, silly girl you are becoming!
