O, So Much Love: Happy Birthday Sophie!!

I know this is very cliche, but I'm going to say it anyway: I can't believe Sophie is a year old! Looking back at Sophie's birth story and pictures, the memories are very clear, yet otherworldly. I can still remember what it was like to hold a baby that small. She looked so different back then, yet I can see features in the pictures that are distinctly Sophie. The joy, and pain, from that period in our lives is still very fresh, albeit more comfortably behind us. About a month ago we ended up driving by the hospital at night and I broke down crying.

Part of the reason why it's hard to believe she's a year old is, well, she really isn't. Her adjusted age is 10 months, and developmentally she's even behind that. She's sitting really well now, but isn't crawling yet. To think that a lot of kids are walking by now just blows my mind. I have to be careful to not compare Sophie to other babies her age (or even her adjusted age). The important thing is that she is progressing. They say that premies "catch up" to non-premies by 2 or 3 years of age (Owen was probably caught up by 1.5 years). That may not be the case with Sophie. If she is diagnosed with a syndrome, she could have delays her whole life. That is just something we will have to deal with.

But the good news is that Sophie is blessed with good health (as far as not getting sicknesses) and our lives are much easier than when she first came home. Sophie is a very happy (unless you make her work too hard!) and extremely smiley baby. She captivates everyone she meets with her smile, which she gives out freely. She is a joy to take care of.

We didn't do much different today to celebrate. Keith stayed home, which was nice. Owen did give her lots of birthday hugs, which is always cute, yet a bit scary since Owen isn't always gentle enough with her. On Saturday we are having friends and family over for a party. I know a lot of people just do a small family party for the first birthday, but I felt like celebrating in a bigger way (and we like hosting parties).

We did get up early to commemorate the actual time of Sophie's birth (5:15am) with a picture. I set my alarm for 5:12 thinking that would give me a few minutes to get the camera ready. What I didn't take into account was that I hit my snooze button while I was half asleep and didn't get out of bed until 5:20am. Oops! But if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't have known the difference, right?

Then: