Tomorrow my baby girl will be one year old. These milestones are bittersweet for me. I am so excited and proud to see the little person she is becoming, but it's difficult to accept she is less and less of a little baby. This time last year, I was completely miserable. Overdue, in pain and so anxious about a delivery that seemed like it would never come. When it finally did, we were head over heels in love. Serafina gave us some scares during the labor and our joy was mixed with a large dose of relief. We knew we were beginning a journey, but we had no idea what it would hold. To be honest, it's been a tough year. We say Serafina is our "difficult baby". For example, she was fussing so much the other day, our neighbor asked if something was pinching her. I said, "I wish. That we could solve. She's just generally crabby."
She was diagnosed with sever reflux when she was just a month old and she was prone to Linda Blair-style giant vomits. When other moms would nurse with a burp cloth nearby, I had a beach towel handy and often a bucket. Yeah, it was bad and messy. We saw a lactation consultant that determined she had a hypersensitive gag reflex. We also saw another specialist who was reassuring that she was normal and would eventually outgrow this stage. She was gaining weight (a lot of weight) and was generally healthy, so we didn't need to be overly concerned. But I was stressed out about it. So much so, I didn't discuss it on the blog because I didn't want to come across as overly neurotic and paranoid about the well-being of my little chunker. She also slept like crap. I mean, really bad. I was a walking zombie for close to eight months. I never got more than a couple hours of sleep at a time. That much sleep deprivation makes you feel pretty coo-coo. Again, we knew it was something she would outgrow. As much as I wanted her to grow out of these issues, I wasn't in a hurry to have her grow up and wanted to enjoy my time with a little baby. But things got better. She hasn't vomited in a month (knocking wood) and she finally sleeps through the night (Leo is a different story). But she has become a moody, willful crabby pants. She has the most dramatic reactions when things don't go her way. I pulled her out of the sandbox yesterday because she took multiple face-plants and I was tired of scooping sand out of her mouth and she performed a head throwing, foot stomping, screaming tantrum. Oh lordy.
The thing is, even with all her fussing and issues, she still is the light of our lives. We all adore her to no end. Her smile makes our world so much brighter. She's really quite amazing and I feel fortune I get to spend my days with her.
So on this birthday eve, when I'm feeling reflective and honest, I'll share this picture.
This was taken last December when we were trying to get a good Christmas picture. She spit up all over her lovely dress bringing the photo shoot to an end. This was her usual state. Covered in yuckiness, completely unfazed and stressing out her mom.
Daddy helps him put on his new shoes. 
All ready. 
Modeling his cute backpack. 
About to walk over. 
Waiting outside as his teacher, Mrs. Hessler, opens the door. 
Finding his name tag. 
Wearing his name tag. 
He was so thoroughly enjoying the toys at school, he barely noticed us leave. 
We are headed to Seal Beach in about an hour. Leo is very excited about flying on an airplane, seeing his Nana and playing at the beach.
