Quinn

In one year's time, just twelve little months, she's done all of this:
1. took her first breath of air
2. felt another person's skin for the first time
3. learned how to move freely
4. lived outside of water for the first time in 10 months
5. learned how to acquire food using her mouth, not a cord connected to her belly
6. lifted her head
7. how to smile
8. how to laugh
9. move her head from side to side
10. roll around, back to front, front to back, side to side...
scoot, babble, sleep, interpret facial expressions, sit up, get back down, crawl, scream, pull up, cut 8 teeth, stand, talk, express emotions, play with toys, dance, walk.....
Change my life.
In the grand scheme of things, one year is small. But one year is huge.  From the moment she took her first breath, to the moment she awoke in my arms this morning, she is a new person. In one year she has made such an impact that we can't imagine life without her.  She was unexpected, that is for sure. But she is more than we ever expected.

My mom, being the practical, yet thoughtful, and still extremely over the top kinda person she is...got Quinn (me) a papasan chair. See, the way she saw it was like a circle. Literally.  The chair is for Quinn. I hold Quinn a lot, nurse her, rock her, etc.

 So the chair is for me. The chair is for Quinn and me. For us.  And when she grows up she can take it with her wherever she may go and remember that it was her very special, full circle, birthday present on her very first birthday.  Along with the chair, mom got me two fantastic books on parenting (as she usually does) and I am really going to have to finish this post tomorrow, with lots of pictures.  I am so tired, Quinn is so not feeling the independent sleep situation tonight, and I haven't even gone through all of my pictures. So I'm going to go cuddle with my ONE YEAR OLD, and leave with this passage, marked by mom with a picture of me and the kids, that made me cry.  Mothers--something about them...

Clouds of Light
They look so small and frail
but they are so great and magnificent.
They are born of the same womb
that birthed the cosmos
and knitted together the galaxies.

If you could see them as they truly are,
you would be astounded.
You would see not little children,
but dancing clouds of light,
energy in motion,
swimming in an ocean of love.

They are so much more
than what you see.
As are you.
      -The Parent's Tao Te Ching