Just Like That

Two pink lines; and just like that, I was a mother.  She was mine and I was hers.  I felt the tiny flutter of her body growing inside of mine.  I wondered who she would be, what she would look like; whose eyes she would have, whose smile.  

We found out it was a little girl and just like that, I had a daughter.  Her room was filled with pink and bows, glitter and lace.  Time passed so slowly as we waited to meet her.  We counted down the weeks, the days, the hours.

And suddenly (finally) she was here; and just like that, I was overwhelmed with a love so strong it terrified me.  It swallowed me up; it broke me apart and put all the pieces back together.  I wondered how I could possibly keep her safe enough...how I could ever protect her enough.  I watched her breathe and prayed constantly for this tiny life I was entrusted with.

And just like that, she grew.  She grew, and she grew, and she grew.  Time passed so slowly as we waited to meet her, and now it sped up much too fast.  Time is funny like that; a sleepless night seemed an eternity but somehow in the blink of an eye she was 6 months old...7...8.  She tried new foods..she sat up..she crawled.  Now, she cruises along the furniture and tells me "down", "no-no", "more", and my favorite word - "mama".

This year has been long; short; fast; slow.  Sleepless nights and drooly faces.  Fussy days and belly giggles.  First words, first baths, and huge learning curves.  And just like that, she's one year old.  365 days of the greatest love I have ever known.  Each night I hold her a little longer at bedtime.  I smell her hair (which smells delicious, but lost that "newborn baby smell" one day when I wasn't paying attention); I kiss her chubby hands.  Because all too soon my baby will be replaced with a toddler....a little girl...a teenager....a young woman.  And just like that, she'll be grown.  So, tonight I'll hold her as long as I can, and memorize her heavy head on my shoulder and her little body melting into mine so I can remember her - just like that.