Changes

Sometimes I watch Olivia at play and think about how much this little person has changed in her nine months of life.

When we brought her home, she was this wide-eyed bundle who did very little other than make her parents aware of her most basic needs. We marveled when she learned how to grasp toys and roll over. She slowly became aware of her surroundings and began to explore.

Now, she has made it very obvious that she's an intelligent individual with her own preferences and habits. She knows that she's not supposed to play with the DVD tower, so she does it anyway, and then she tries to play it off as if she was just putting the DVDs away when she is caught. She always thinks that it's Daddy on the line when the phone rings, and she wants to "talk" to him. She understands when she is tired and tries to tell me that by crawling up on me and laying her head on my shoulder. Although she doesn't communicate in clear words, she has her own way of making her needs known that is sweet and toddler-like, but uniquely her own.

Motherhood constantly amazes me, but not just the fact that I'm a Mom. Mom is not a job or occupation...it is a very specific vocation. In the same way that marriage is a specific vocation that joins a certain man and a certain woman to each other, motherhood (and fatherhood) binds us to a specific child or children. I am Olivia's mom, and that fact alone with help define the type of mother I will be. My actions and decisions will be guided by what is best for her, what her particular needs are, and what will help her become the individual she was created to be. In a very concrete way, she is teaching me how to be her Mom.

Yes, she's in a forward-facing car seat. Can you see how tall she is?
Poor thing was all scrunched up in her other seat.