Times have Changed

For some reason, I have been pondering the ways in which my life has changed over the course of the last year.  Some are totally expected as a new parent, like how sleeping in on a Saturday until 8am seems heavenly these days and was painful a year ago.  But some less expected, like that I would NEED a day totally at home to recover from other daily activities like grocery shopping.  Or that hanging out with friends (now called a playdate) could be completely exhausting because you still have to take care of a baby while hanging out.  And the fact that routine has become my friend (though I'm no master of a scheduled life) & previously Brannon & I were king & queen of flying by the seats of our pants.

Then, as I was rocking Mackenzie to sleep (yes I still rock her & I've decided it's okay & I love to do it, so there!).  Um, where was I?  Oh yeah, I was rocking her to sleep & I thought

 about how much things have changed in just the last few months.  Back in January, Brannon & I were totally stoked to watch the season premiere of Lost - just needed to get that baby to sleep!  She wasn't so easy to put to bed back then.  We were lucky to get her asleep by like 9:30 (or so we thought) and thanks to DVR we sat down (Lost starts at 9 - in case any of you aren't hooked.....you should get hooked!).  Then, the crying began and kept going for quite some time.  I think we maybe ended up having to go to bed without watching it until the next night.  But last night, I was done putting her to bed at 8:30 (which is now on the later side) and we had time to do some other things before Lost started.  AND we didn't hear a peep from her until after 7am the next morning.  And that's perfectly NORMAL these days.  Times have changed!

Then, yesterday I was at Wal-Mart getting Mackenzie into the shopping cart (yes she sits in the actual cart now & loves it....thinks she's BIG stuff).  I realized I didn't have a pacifier.  And I thought, oh well, she'll be fine.  But I know a few months ago leaving the house w/o a paci was SCARY!  I was seriously risking having a inconsolable infant on my hands in public.  Not a welcome thought.  But now, she was perfectly content throughout a good long shopping trip through Wal-Mart.  Times have changed!!!

She stays in the church nursery (and is happy about it) for the whole service.  Times have changed!

She eats like a little champ.  Times have changed.

She can sit and play by herself with her toys for relatively long periods of time (though she still thoroughly enjoys a friend on the floor with her).  Times have changed.

She's such a cutie!  Some things never change!

She's always been a joy for us, but I feel more joyful with these changes.  I totally love this age that she's at!