Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Miss Bailey

Let me update you on Miss Bailey. She quietly turned one on Christmas Eve. There wasn't the pomp and circumstance or the party of 50 people like we had at Reagan's first birthday. We unceremoniously drove most of the day to Florida for Christmas. She never even got a first birthday cake. I feel a bit guilty about that and vow to make sure she always gets a proper birthday every other year.

When Bailey turned one, it seems like overnight the lights went on in her head. She took her first steps Christmas Day and immediately started babbling more, imitating more, and just wanting to be more involved in what we are doing.

Bailey's walking started out like a crab walk. She'd only walk sideways. After a week or so of that, she changed to the zombie walk. She'd slowly totter down the trek with her hands straight out. If she wasn't always giggling her butt off, I'd imagine her walking thinking, "brains, I want brains" in true zombie fashion.

Six weeks later, and Bailey is completely changed. She still has a bit of the zombie walk, but now she attempts to run, especially after successfully snatching a toy or food from Reagan or some poor unsuspecting baby at daycare. You'd never know Reagan has 1.5 years on her. Bailey doesn't let it deter her in the least. The other day she snatched Reagan's burrito right off her plate and was scarfing it down (with her only two teeth) as quickly as she could while trying to make a clean getaway. If Reagan is in "her" chair, Bailey pushes her right out of it. She has every bit of fiestiness as Reagan and has become quite ornery. She has discovered the classic games such as "let-me-climb-up-the-stairs-as-fast-as-I-can-and-see-how-far-I-make-it-before-Mom-catches-me" or "look!-I-can-stand-on-a-table!"

No matter what she gets into or cooks up, she continues to do it with a smile on her face and a laugh in her heart. She truly brings us great joy. Reagan truly loves her and gets just as excited as we do when Bailey does something new. Reagan has actually done a better job than us at trying to teach Bailey sign language. By one year, Reagan knew over 100 signs. By 14 months she was combining them to form "sentences." Reagan has retained most of that knowledge and it's really cool to see her "talking" to Bailey with sign language. Bailey only does a few signs, but we see her trying more and more every day. She understands a lot more than she communicates as she has become quite vigorous in her head shaking "yes" or "no" to respond to our questions.

Both girls are just amazing to us. They are so very different from each other yet we love them both with all our heart. I look back and can't believe I cried tears of sorrow and frustration when I found out I was pregnant with Bailey. She was truly meant to be in our lives when she was and I can't imagine our lives without her.

Out of the baby years...now on to more toddler years!

(I have a bunch of pictures to add to this post but I'm not on the right computer. Rather than wait, I'm posting now and will add the pictures later. Don't forget to come back and check them out. As many have pointed out, she's grown to be quite the big girl practically overnight. I have some cute pics to share.)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Belated First Birthday Bailey!!

Aly @ Lip Zip said...

Oh my! You are making my heart soar! I have had so many reservations about having a second child because I don't want to give up the exclusivity, so-to-speak, we have with our little boy. After reading your post, though, I can see you have so much love for both of them and that just gives me a huge smile across my face. Yep, I look like the Joker now! :)

Kelly Deneen Raymond said...

This is so great to hear! We are still contemplating TTC #2, and your post made me smile. She sounds amazing, and it was truly meant to be!

Mel said...

Love the zombie walk! Analese did the same thing. She would put her arms out in front and really study her hands. We called them the "magic hands"! Bailey sounds like such a cutie! Hope to see more pics soon. BTW, Bailey is my birthday buddy (both Dec. 24)!

Michelle said...

It really is amazing how quickly they change. I love how Reagan is helping her out so much -- what a good big sister. And ummm Bailey sounds JUST like a certain little sister I know, including the stealing and pushing and ahhh personality ;) Too cute!

Richard said...

Happy Belated Birthday Bailey!!

Like posters above, I too have reservations about the second child. Being on my first, and adoring her with more than my heart and soul, I almost don't want to share myself. I worry about all the 'will i' thoughts - will I love the second as much? Will I neglect my first? Will I be able to give enough to both?

But reading your blog post makes me realise that it's definitely possible!! Thankyou so much for posting it. Just what I needed to hear!

Joanna said...

I wanted to let you know that I'm one of the people that can't comment on your other blog. I'm not sure what the problem is. I do read it though.

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Catherine said...

Yep, those Christmas Eve birthdays are tough! Logan also turned 1 on the 24th, and I had to remind our visitors (all family) that the day was about Logan, not Christmas!

Congrats on the walking, too!