Evie's 51st Week

Our last full week with an "infant" begins tomorrow because I suppose once she turns 1 she is classified as a toddler.  Evie's 51st week was filled with visits from friends and family.  Our dear friend, Annalisa, came back (she was here in November) to spend the weekend with us and we all had a blast.  Evie and Annalisa bonded over sharing a glass (of water) on Annalisa's first night in town.  Evie really wanted to drink from Annalisa's glass, so she kindly helped her:

And then, Evie decided water was more fun to play in:

On Monday, Granna came up to see Evie and she babysat her while Annalisa, Seth and I went to a movie.  It was nice to get out, and I know Granna was ready for some Evie-time, and Evie seemed ready for some Granna-time too.

Fun facts about Evie right now: She says "mama" when I'm feeding her food and she's ready for another bite.  I'm not sure if she means "Mama" or if she means, "hey, you, give me more stuff", but it's sweet regardless.  She loves sliced cheese and she gobbles up shredded chicken.  This week, she started drinking her milk at lunch out of a cup, so we've cut out one bottle.  She is probably working on one of her molars since she's been a little drooly and fussy.  She has such great fine motor skills that she can pick up a brown leaf off of the brown hardwood floor, or a cottage cheese curd off of a white bib.  She will try to hand you stuff she finds on the floor, or hold out food to share it with you (this started just this week).  She responds to her name now and even stops what she's doing if you say her name in the right tone of voice.  She is doing this with her books now:

In other words, she is growing up.

We are rearranging the house a little bit and I've been sorting through some of the clothes and baby things that Evie has outgrown.  Last night, while rearranging things in the kitchen, I pulled Evie's bottle warmer off the counter, planning to clean it before I put it in storage or give it to one of the people we know who are expecting.  And I had such a vivid flashback to last summer.  We started using the bottle warmer when Evie was 2 weeks old, and I remembered how difficult it was to get her to eat at that point.  It was so, so hard, and I worried so, so much.  Still to this day, I worry about getting her to eat, almost like she might starve if she misses a meal, because the pressure I felt when she was a newborn was so intense that it's still present.

And wrapping up that bottle warmer, thinking about tiny, tiny Evie...  Such little hands, such small features, so helpless...  My little newborn is going to be a year old in 8 days, and she is so strong and independent now.  She's so curious and has a personality of her own.  It's almost like having a completely different being.  And I said to Seth, "What a ride it's been."  And then I cried.  I am sure that I'll cry on her birthday too, but I think packing things up, not knowing if we'll have another baby, almost feels like the end of an era.  Mind you, I'm okay with that, because I'm really not into newborns much.  I'm so excited to see what Evie does with this next year.  I can't wait to hear her talk, to watch her learn to walk, to take her to places and have her really interact with me and enjoy the sights.  But I feel like I'm packing up all babyhood, and there is a bit of a nostalgia and melancholy that comes with that.  I've thought to myself so often this year that I wish I could bottle up a few moments to go back and relive them later.  I guess writing them down is as good as it gets.