A daughter's evolution

My daughter Isla turns one very soon. I am amazed how fast this last year has gone and all the changes Isla went through. I was just as amazed at how quickly my older daughter, Marley, was changing so it has been fantastic to see it again with Isla.

With the changes, it is hard to keep up with everything that happened last year. She went from being this little person who was reliant on us for everything to a much more independent little person. How did this happen seemingly overnight?

Isla was pretty average as far as weight goes when she was born. Not much has changed even though she is three times bigger today than when she was born. Luckily, I am not. Her change in size has been very drastic, as it is with most kids her age. This is because of the significant change in her diet from breast milk to just about whatever we put in front of her!

Initially she only drank breast milk for a large variety of reasons. Her digestive tract was still developing, she did not have teeth, could not sit in a highchair, could not grab for food, could not use a spoon — basically a lot of could nots.

Now we do not have to be as concerned about what we give her for food, we still have a few things we cannot, such as honey. I initially thought this would be because we do not know if she is allergic to bees but it is actually due to a bacterium that can germinate in a baby’s underdeveloped digestive tract.

The weight gain has been a big change; another has been her mobility.

Isla did not do a whole lot early on. She lay on her back cooing and smiling.

From there, she started to roll over to grab Marley’s favorite toy of the day.

Tummy time was next so she could develop her muscles to get ready for crawling.

Once she figured out crawling there was no stopping her. She would crawl to our ottoman to pull herself up and walk along it and our couch.

Most recently, she is taking around 10 steps between my wife, Cory, and me.

In one year, she went from not moving to being a quadruped (crawling on all fours) to a biped (walking on two legs).

This brings me to what has made me the happiest.

When I come home from work, Isla recognizes me, smiles, says “hi” and waves. When she hears a song she recognizes, she starts to dance. It is so cool to see that she has a memory now and learns things.

I think the person she learns the most from is Marley. She loves Marley and wants to do everything Marley does. If Marley is drawing on the chalkboard, Isla is right there mimicking her.

This last year has been so wonderful, I cannot wait to see what happens with my girls in the next year!