11 months

So today marks my baby girl's 11 month birthday. Yes, 11 months. I know, where did the time go????  I wonder where the time goes each month that we celebrate her birth, but it is still so amazing that she has come from a microscopic seeming newborn to this 18 pound healthy human baby girl who is laughing, smiling, babbling, and has her own little personality.

Do any of you moms out there look at older kids and think, oh my gosh, my child is going to be there one day! And you know how time flies and that time will be here sooner than we know it. You are either excited about it, or like me most of the time, scared to death.

Like dreading her growing up as I watch teenagers doing reckless things in my neighborhood and thinking, that is not going to be my child, please, please don't let her do those things! Or being excited about my daughter grow as I watch the cute 7 year old picking out her birthday party dress at the mall, or seeing a 4 year old who is super verbal, communicating so well and making friends. So cute!

Or how about this common experience: Today I was witness to a 3 year old having a screaming tantrum at Toys R Us. I thought to myself,  I could one day have that child that all of the other shoppers are covering their ears and glaring at the mother, wondering why she brought the child there in the first place? I thought to myself, hello? Sensori-overload.  Kind of hard for a 3 year old to say "no" to all of the temptations at Toys R Us. But then I thought, well, this mom may be a single mom, have no family in town and has no one to watch her child while she runs her errand to the most overstimulating store on earth.  But then I thought, if your life is that stressful, do you even have time to go to Babies R Us in the first place?

Okay, I digress. Back to my original point here.  I am SO amazed at how fast babies grow. I remember studying how fast infants develop and each month how they progress, but it is still so hard to accept at times that your child is growing up right before your eyes. I wish I could just wrap her up, stop time and keep her at this age for at least 6 more months.

I mean, just 8 or 9 months ago, my child was not smiling yet. Just not there developmentally, and now she is laughing, smiling and babbling. Isn't it amazing?

So, with birthdays on my mind, does anyone have any birthday ideas for 1st birthdays? Games, activities, favors??