The End

It's the end of an era. Ok, maybe I'm being too dramatic. But seriously, it's the end of my time at home raising my baby girl through the first year of her life. It was a tough job and someone had to do it! So, yes it's the end of an era. This also means that my baby girl is not so much a baby anymore, but a ONE YEAR OLD. Soon, I will no longer be counting her age in months, but in years. Yikes. Has it been ONE WHOLE YEAR already? Where did the time go?
Oh right, at the beginning it went to feeding her every three hours - waking her up, keeping her awake to eat and then putting her back to sleep. This also involved washing and sterilizing around 8 bottles a day! And the constant worrying of being a new parent. If I was feeding her correctly, was she eating enough, was she gaining enough weight, how many dirty diapers did she go through? I remember sitting on the couch a few hours after we brought her home for the first time, Juan was out getting groceries, Gabriela was soundly asleep and my Mom was cleaning something in the kitchen. And I thought to myself, oh lord, what am I going to do. It was overwhelming at first. How could it not be? I mean, Juan and I were in charge of a tiny little life. But now, after (almost) one year of looking after this little one, I realize that I did it. And I'm continuing to do it. You just have to take everything in stride. She's her own little person and let's you know what she needs. Whether its food or a comforting snuggle. She's an amazing wonderful girl and Juan and I couldn't be happier. So yes, it's the end of an era. The end of my era being with my little girl day in and day out. I hope to return to it someday, but for now I have to go back to my other job and look forward to my evenings and weekends and those snuggles and smiles whenever I see her.
I'm going to miss you my baby girl.