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Little Miss Sara had her one year check up the other day.

Here's some important info about Sara at one::

• 30 1/4 inches tall (75th percentile)
• 23 pounds 3 ounces ( 80th percentile)
• 18 inch head (75th percentile)
• 5 teeth (3 on the bottom, 2 on the top . . . with a 6th one about to appear)
  
• can walk (but still often opts for crawling)
• waves, claps, signs "more", knows "how big is Sara?" and raises up both hands for "SO big!"
• can say "hi" (and does often!), "momma" and "dada".
• is not a fan of drinking from a cup -- prefers a bottle or a straw
• has yet to sleep through the night
• doesn't mind being carted around by her siblings (or their friends) even if they hold her in ways that look, to me, like they would hurt . . . what a trooper
• jabbers a lot
• will make a b-line for the bathroom to splash in the toilet if you forget to shut the bathroom door (she has some freakish radar for an open bathroom door)
• has mastered going UP the stairs, but can't get back down safely (although, unfortunately, has gotten down in an unsafe manner . . . yup, exactly what you're thinking. Don't worry. She survived just fine.)
  

There is a song I've been listening to lately that makes me think of my baby and how fast she's growing. I've been humming it a lot the past few days since my "baby" transformed into a toddler and I'm mourning her baby days while remembering to enjoy her blossoming toddlerhood. It's a fabulous song (the whole album is pretty darn good, in case you wondered . . . and so are all the other JJ Heller albums I have, too). To hear "I get to the be the one" by JJ Heller, click here and then play the first clip on the page entitled JJ Heller's song dedicated to her new baby due in the fall of 2011 (the baby has since been born and is a girl named Nora) and go here if you want to read the lyrics (they're very sweet).


Those babies, they grow up so fast! The other night as Sara was sick (blasted ear infection) and I was up with her most of the night I held her as she slept . . . and she's just. so. big. So long. So heavy. So grown up looking. That particular night, she would only sleep against my chest while I was sitting up. Anytime I tried something else (laying down a bit, or -- heaven forbid -- putting her back in her crib) she'd start screaming again . . . and with 5 other kids in the house, middle-of-the-night screaming is something we try and avoid. So I sat on the couch with her sleeping on my chest for a good portion of the night. It left me pretty tired, but, these days, the chances I have to hold her as she sleeps don't come very often, if at all. So, I'll try to see the silver lining and remember the feel of her one-year-old body against mine heavy with much-needed, but hard-won, sleep.