Watch Me Grow Up!

Lulu,

    You have changed so much the past few months! At eight months, you started crawling, but nice and easy, just a little here and a little there. Until you decided to take off. It seemed like you went from slowly winding up on a different side of the living room from where I'd sat you down to truly speed-racing down our long hallway! At the same time, you've gone from happily eating whatever veggie I offer to total frustration that you can't completely feed yourself! You've gone from sitting happily in the middle of the bed with your siblings in the morning to diving for the edge while Daddy and I nearly fall all over ourselves trying to keep you safe! I've whispered in your ear, begging you to slow down, not to grow too fast, but I don't think you are listening. I think the problem may be that your siblings are yelling in your face to follow them, to run and frolic, to get into mischief and mayhem, to grow up alongside them.

  

     

Not only have you learned to speed crawl, but you have also learned to raise both your arms when we yell "touchdown Bama!" You aren't very cooperative about doing it for pictures, but I don't mind because it is the most adorable thing I've ever seen. You love to plunder through everything, as much as Lillie ever did - if not more - (and way more than Will and Sophie)! I can't even begin to think about what all you have eaten off our floors, but I'm afraid that some days the amount of crumbs you consume rivals the amount you eat at the table! You still love music, and Daddy swears you are the most rhythmic child we've ever had. You can just about keep a steady beat, and you love to bang on the toy piano and drums. Your favorite thing is for daddy to keep a beat for you to dance to!

     Your aren't just growing physically, but you personality is growing too! You still seem to be our most laid-back baby, but we have discovered that you do have a temper! You aren't easily angered, but if you get riled up, look out! You don't plan on taking any mess off your siblings, that's for sure! You aren't the easiest child to make smile or laugh, but if someone is willing to work for it, you have the funniest gummy smile I've ever seen and sweetest snicker I've ever heard! I recently heard you described as "the  one that just stares at you!," Now I do think you sometimes stare at some people and wonder if they have a brain in their heads, but other than wanting to slap the idiot who said that about you, I also realized how you have the kind of personality that not everyone appreciates. You are not the bubbly, vivacious type (don't worry, no one in our family other than Daddy and Lillie are...), but you seem to have a seriousness, a thoughtfulness, and an inquisitiveness that I am so very proud of. And you do way more than stare for anyone who actually watches and sees! 

     I'm always a little bit sad to watch my babies grow up, but you approaching a year is especially bittersweet for me because you are my last little one. I've been known to sing to Taylor's Swift's "Never Grow Up" to all of you, and Will and Lillie both seem to delight in coming up ever-so-sweetly to me, giving me a little love, and saying, "Mama, watch me grow up!" before breaking into peels of laughter as I beg them not to! I think you have caught on to their wiley ways because you seem intent on transforming before my eyes!

And as much as part of me wants to stop you or to at least slow you down, another part of me realizes how blessed I am to witness your growth. I am spending my days with you and whether it's watching Sophie really begin to take responsibility as she looks out for you, or Will absolutely fawn over his "dumplin" in his deep voice, or Lillie truly beginning to develop a friendship with you, I am watching growth in each of you. As I take quiet walks with you in the morning or have a girls' days with you and Patti-Grams at Trader Joes every other week, or as I rock you to sleep each night, I am privileged to be witness to the tiny changes in you each day. Watching my children grow is a dream come true for me, the Lord fulfilling one of the greatest desires of my heart, and I am so thankful to Him that He is allowing me to watch you grow up.