Stands With A Fish

Two weeks! My daughter will be one year old in two weeks! My jaw is on the floor. I can't believe it. But, alas, Taylor is growing up as fast as everyone (really, everyone) said she would. I blinked. They said not to blink, but I blinked. And now she's almost one year old already. Wow.

Taylor's latest antics include trying to eat elusive Cheerios, lifting her leg Karate Kid style while laughing, babbling everything from "dada" to "tree" (still no sign of "mommy" - saving the best for last, right? Right?), attempting to walk, and standing with toys in both hands - usually toy fish. Her other standing routine (at least for the past week) has been to pull up in the corner of her crib during naptime, grip her stuffed dolphin (a mammal, not a fish), and scream-cry until her poor dolphin is soaked with snot and tears. That routine is getting old, fast (just like Taylor).

This time last year I was a week from my due date and couldn't sleep. I didn't know whether I was having a boy or a girl. The baby curled in my pregnant belly kicked and hiccuped. A couple weeks after that, my life changed forever when Taylor Jane raised her hand through my c-section ("Hey, world! I'm here!") at 2:24 a.m. and made her grand entrance into the mad world.

Happy New Year for Old Resolutions!!

It's the first week of 2009 and I already get the sense that this year will bring many changes. As I see it, change is the only constant. I'm curious to find out what will happen with each passing month in this new year.

Most importantly, I'm invoking the carryover rule for all resolutions from last year. Everyone has another whole year to keep their resolutions from last year. Hooray! Isn't that wonderful?! Now, you can stop feeling guilty about the things you didn't finish before December 31, 2008. You have another 365 (well, technically 360) days!! Am I just creating the ultimate form of procrastination or what?

It's a happy new year for old resolutions. I'll toast to that!

A new year brings with it the awareness that time keeps on passing -- another day, another week, another year. This is life. This very moment. And this very moment. Second by second. Get busy doing whatever it is that you want to do.

What are you waiting for? Next year? It will be here before you know it...