A Birthday for Z

It's amazing how fast a year can go. A year ago today we welcomed out nameless baby into the world. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was Zia. We had been playing around with other names, but just couldn't decide. I pictured my Zia with dark hair and baby blue eyes. I know a babies eyes change after birth, but Zia just fit that description and I knew our nameless baby's name. I kept looking at the clock today and remembering what was going on at that time last year. I woke up to feed Zia around 4:00 and thought about waking just after 4:00 last year when my water broke. I tried to not wake Cork, but he was up. Cork and I were talking in the kitchen at 7:20 and I told him that at that time last year I was walking around the neighborhood and my parents were already here. At 9:00, I was driving to the gym, remembering that my midwife had me at her office making sure my water had broken. What a joke. I can't imagine anyone, whose water broke like mine did both times, confusing it for anything else. At 10:00, I had 15 minutes left in today's workout and remembered that I was checking into the hospital and was about to do the ultimate workout. At noon, I was getting ready to push.

I would like to say that today at 2:05 I looked at the clock and remembered pulling Zia up to my chest and our first few seconds together. But I didn't. At 2:05 today, the three of us were making our way through a grocery store. Zia was happily napping on my front in an Ergo. It's okay I didn't look at the time. I know that this year Zia was in the exact same spot she was in at that time last year...with a little more fabric between us, but still the same place. I'm sad that this year went so fast. As others say, the days are long, but the years are short. This is my favorite picture from Zia's birth and it feels like it was just taken. I have now become one of those women who loves telling a child's birth story. Zia's birth was so peaceful and totally not what most people expect for a hospital birth.

Zia is such a delight to have around. She loves the cat and the little tyke's car more than any other toys. If I can't find her, I know to look for both of those and I'll probably find her. That is as long as the stairs are blocked and the bathroom door is closed. She has an obsession with the toilet and loves to climb the stairs. We try to make sure that the stairs are always blocked, but I have to admit that once she made it all the way up while I was loading the dishwasher. She now "sings" when we sing. Eiley loves to sing/howl like Ariel the Mermaid and Zia sings/howls along with her. She can sign more, milk, bye bye, and done. She can say kitty, meow, doggy, this, momma, and yes. She's a fast crawler and loves to chase after her sisters as they run around the house. She can stand up by herself, even though she doesn't seem to know it. She'll grab onto something or someone and then stand, but she's not using the person or thing to pull up on. She has even used a handful of my shirt to help herself stand. Her balance is still a bit off, so she keeps her feet placed wide apart. On Monday night, she was sitting on my legs and kept standing on her own while straddling me. I put her to my side and let go. She stood there for about 20 seconds before sitting down. She just recently figured out that she could walk while holding onto our hands, even though she's been walking behind things for a few months. She moves her right leg without bending her knee, so she's prone to going toward the side instead of straight. She is now happy to hang onto one hand while she walks. I have no idea if she'll just decide to walk in a few weeks or if she'll be content to crawl for awhile longer since she's so fast at it. She has 5 teeth, but I can see the 6th one starting to bulge. I wish she had her gap tooth grin just a while longer, but she is trying to nurse through that gap, so a little relief from that might be nice. She's still going strong nursing. Most night's she's down to one session in the middle of the night, sometimes more and she's slept through the night twice now. I think she'll be sleeping through the night regularly soon. She's all over the board with naps. Most days she takes one nap, but sometimes she's up earlier in the morning and really needs a short morning nap. A couple days ago she took an hour morning and a two hour afternoon nap. She never sleeps that long and so then she decided to go to bed 90 minutes late. She went to bed late tonight too. She doesn't want to miss out on anything happening.



 We could not have asked for a more ideal first year with our third child. Our first year with the twins was an amazing experience for so many different reasons. Zia has been a whole new experience and I'm so glad that we get to be her parents. I can already tell that she's going to have a zany personality and sense of humor. She thinks the goofiest things are funny and loves to put things on her head. I found her today emptying her cloth wipes and trying to put them all on her head.