Let the good times roll (or walk, rather)!

Afton, at 12 months old, is walking.
She's taken plenty of steps over the last month or so- a couple here, a couple there- but yesterday was the first day on which I saw her actually walk from point A to point B with balance and intention. :-)

It's hard to believe these little people are growing so fast. In a few months, we'll be adding another little munchkin to the crew. And I'm sure this next child will grow just as fast as Gillian and Afton have. Time to strap on my running shoes- they are going to be tough to keep up with!

Milestone Memories

When my first child was still growing in my belly, I was so sure I'd want to document every milestone... every new ability... every first. I had a baby-book, with adorable little illustrations of bunnies and choo-choo-trains and teddy bears. The kind that has content, like "When I first found out I was pregnant, I felt ____________". I went through and carefully, thoughtfully filled in every page and blank up until the birth page. Then she came out and like a whirlwind she tore through all my good intentions. I guess I was spending too much time working and caring for her and enjoying her to keep up with the book so while I have some vague idea, I have no record of when she first rolled over, sat up, crawled, had her first haircut, grew her first tooth... I don't even know what her first word was!

The second time around, I knew better than to waste any money on the cheesy baby-book. But because I regret all the things I just don't remember, I was really convinced that I'd make an effort to jot these things down this time. But here I sit, my one year old baby sleeping upstairs, already having forgotten exactly what happened when. She was born... eventually she giggled... one day she could sit up... she popped out a tooth... she's popped out several more since... started sleeping through the night at some point... crawled sometime after that... said "mama" and "dada", but I'm not sure which one first... and she's already on to taking steps!

Now, I'm sure I'm not the first mom to have missed some milestones, but I feel incredibly guilty and a little frantic about it. I can't ever rewind and pinpoint the exact day that something happened, and memories fade and warp over time.
For instance, when I think back and remember Gillian, at 18 months old, singing the alphabet- in tune- in the back seat, I may be remembering it all wrong. Perhaps it was really Twinkle-Twinkle... maybe it was off key... what if it never even happened?! I have no proof! No evidence! No record!

So, I find I have two choices. I can either come to the realization that I'm not the only one (please tell me I'm not the only one who stinks at these things!), or I can make a very good effort to do better. And so I will be journaling milestones in my blog (oh goodie for you, huh?). I'm not trying to pretend that these milestones are particularly interesting to anyone else, except maybe a few Grandmas, but this is a convenient way for me to pop up pics and have a saved, dated record of happenings.

So here's one: Afton has recently began taking steps. The first one was back on April 27th, and I've been waiting for an official "she's a walker!" moment... but, well... she's really not that motivated. You can tell that she knows she'll get there faster on hands and knees than on her feet. Smart girl, I say. Nevertheless, we've been trying to encourage the upright mode of transportation because, well, you know, she's gotta get used to it sooner or later, right?

Gillian is outside planting veggies with Joel in the garden. She has so much fun outside with Daddy. Yesterday was our 2nd anniversary (I know!), and we took a nice long bike ride with the girls. Afton rode in the bike-cart that tows behind Joel's bike, and Gillian rode her own bike. She kept up pretty well and we went about 8 miles. Family bike rides are some of my very favorite times. :o)

So that's all I've got at the moment. Hopefully it will be nowhere near as much time before my next post.