A Jewel Turns One

I weaned Moriah three days ago.

As I sat for the last time and nursed her, I watched her intently and tried to memorize the moment.  And I thought, "How is it possible that a year has flown by already?"

If I could sum it all up in one word, it would be DELIGHT.  That word has been mentioned several times in my previous monthly updates during this first year of Moriah's life, but I keep coming back to it, forsaking originality and the quest to find a new word because DELIGHT just seems to sum it all up.  With everything within me, I have treasured these moments and thanked God countless times for the privilege of being the mother of this gift.

A few days ago, I weighed Moriah and discovered that she is about 18 and a half pounds.  I also tried to measure her and finally concluded that she's about 29 inches long, but because of her wiggling, I could be wrong.  ;-)

Moriah has grown and developed so much since she turned 11 months old; and to keep up with the fast pace of her changes, I found myself jotting quick notes in my (wonderful!) homeschool planner (which is so much more than just a planner...it becomes a scrapbook of our life!).  This is what I wrote:

3/13 - We put up the baby gate so Moriah won't fall down the steps.

3/20 - Moriah got her 2nd tooth (bottom right)!

3/24 - Moriah got her 3rd tooth (top left)!

3/24 - Moriah clapped.  :)

3/27 - Moriah got her 4th tooth (top right)!  
(You can see all of these lovely teeth in the photo above because Moriah gave a funny grin right when I snapped the picture so all her teeth are showing.)  :)

3/27 - I read books to Moriah (first time?).

4/6 - Moriah pulled up to standing for the first time!! First, in her bed, then by the bathtub.  :)

4/8 - I dropped Moriah's bedtime nursing.

4/17 - I dropped Moriah's lunchtime nursing.

4/23 - I dropped Moriah's suppertime nursing.

4/30 - I nursed Moriah for the last time this morning.

For Moriah's birthday, we had a low-key celebration, like I've already shown.  But one thing I didn't mention yet about her birthday is that we gave her a gift.  Yes, a gift.  Singular.  :)  Since she has everything she needs and wouldn't remember it anyway, we didn't feel the need to have a bunch of presents just for the sake of having a bunch of presents, if you know what I mean.  But I wanted to give her something, and the one thing I chose for her was the book If I Could Keep You Little... by Marianne Richmond. As you might infer from the title, its theme is the growth of a child and how the parents are a little sad but, even more, are proud of who the child is becoming and excited for what the future holds, etc.  To tell you the truth, it's the kind of book I'll never be able to actually read to her, because I probably wouldn't even get through the first page without turning into some kind of blubbering fool!  :)  Maybe Jeff will read it to her sometimes.  :)  But when she's old enough, I'll teach her to read, and then she can read it to herself and notice the inscription in the front that tells her that we gave it to her for her first birthday.  She might even think, "Hmmm, I wonder why my mom never read this to me?"  ;-)

Taking these pictures of Moriah was really tough this month.  Lying still and smiling for the camera?  It didn't sound like much fun at all to her--not when she'd rather roll over (see above) and sit up (see below).

And not when she'd rather make a beeline...

...for me and the chair I was standing on.

 If I had known my toenails...

...were going to make it onto the blog...

 ...I would have painted them at least!  :)

 Moriah didn't mind their plainness; they were still fascinating to her.  ;-)

Since change is such a big part of the wonderful first year of a child's life, I'll take note of some ways in which Moriah is changing in this process of being transformed from a baby to a full-fledged toddler.

First, she is MUCH more mobile now than she was at 11 months.  She still uses her funny crawl, which usually involves being on two hands, her left knee, and her right foot.  It works for her and gets her where she wants to go.  :)  What's really changed things, however, is how good she's gotten at pulling up; once she started that skill, she was immediately very good at it and would do it almost anywhere.  It opens up a whole new world for her to be in an upright position, and I marvel when I glance over and there she is--on her feet. :)

She's gradually becoming more adept at cruising, but is still rather hesitant to move along much in that way; and she is NOT interested in walking with someone holding onto her hands.  Jeff tries to tempt her to take some steps, but so far she's still in the mode of "nothin' doin', Daddy!"  Although I'm certain she is not on the verge of walking independently, I'm almost fairly certain that she will walk at an earlier age than any of our other kids. She's got about five more months to go, if she wants to break the record.  ;-)

One of the most welcome changes in Moriah is her growing comprehension of the things we say and do.  For example, when I'm dressing her and I pull a shirt over her head, she knows that when I get her arm lined up with the sleeve, it's time to push her arm out, and she does that.  Also, if she's heading for something she's not supposed to touch--like the cord on my laptop or the trashcan in the bathroom or something like that--if I say, "No, Moriah" (in a firm, pay-attention kind of voice, but not a yell or screech)  ;-) she stops what she's doing and looks around at me.  At that point, I often intervene with the distraction method and let her know what she can play with and touch so that she won't be tempted beyond her ability to endure; but I rejoice in the fact that she's learning to obey.  :)

Not everything about Moriah is changing.  She still is a great sleeper, taking two long naps a day and sleeping through the night (can I say again what a huge relief this is, especially since her next oldest brother gave us such a rough time with sleep issues for years?!).  :)  She wakes up happy and plays contentedly in her crib until somebody comes to get her.  Yesterday morning when I checked on her at the end of her first nap of the day, she was still asleep; but when I came back a little while later, she was awake and standing up, trying to hoist up a soft cloth book so she could get it over the crib railing and throw it overboard.  She grinned when she saw me watching her.  ;-)  One time a week or two ago, the boys and I were playing outside right after I had put her in bed for her nap; and we looked up at her window and saw her peeking out through the blinds.  It reminded me of how Shav used to have such fun standing up in that crib and playing there at that windowsill.  :)

Moriah still loves to eat whatever we're eating and is a good eater overall, but she has learned how to look at what is arriving on the spoon to see if she wants it or not.  If the answer is "not," she turns her head to the right and makes it clear that the mouth is not going to open for that particular morsel!  :)  That's fine; there will be plenty of time in years to come to initiate Moriah into The Clean Plate Club.  :)

Moriah still says "dada" and "mama" and babbles other syllables, too; but she's not saying a whole lot--at least, not that I can understand.  :)

Moriah still loves to be around her brothers and is entertained by them.  If she's fussing and I'm holding her but I need to use my hands to do something, I know she'll be happy if I put her in the playpen to play, as long as one of the boys is with her.  :)

About a year and a half ago, I wrote out the very first prayer I prayed when I found out Moriah was a girl.  It warms my heart to think back on that moment and remember what was present in my spirit at that significant point in time.  Here are some other prayers that seem to regularly pop up when I talk to God about Moriah:
1. Thank You, God, for Moriah!  I pray this one every single day--often, multiple times a day.  I truly feel like I can't thank God enough for her (and I feel the same way about my other children and Jeff).  
2. May she be a joy to those with whom she comes in contact.
3. Give her a heart to obey--to quickly learn the blessing that comes through obedience.
4. Keep Your hand on her, God!  Protect her body, soul, mind, spirit, emotions, intellect.
5. Help her to pursue purity and righteousness.
6. May she have strength and boldness to shine Your light to so many hurting people.
7. Thank You for the love that she pours out on all of us in the family.
8. Keep her safely on your path, all the way to heaven!
Of course, there are others; but these are some themes that recur.  :)

Because I know that, in the future, I'll want to take a look back through this past wondrous year, I'm including links to the monthly updates I posted about Moriah.  Here they are...
One Week,
One Month,
Two Months,
Three Months,
Four Months,
Five Months,
Six Months,
Seven Months,
Eight Months,
Nine Months,
Ten Months,
and Eleven Months.

My, what a difference a year makes!  :)

Lots of things have changed in the span of one year...

...but some things never will--like the love that floods my heart when I think about this precious jewel that God gave to us.

On second thought, I take that back.  The love DOES change.  Every day it gets bigger...

...and bigger...

...and bigger...

...AND BIGGER...