“Froggy, Daddy. See froggy?” (froggy is a lawn sculpture in the neighborhood)

“Um, I’m not sure, sweetie. Where is the froggy?”

“Might be down the street?”

That, in a nutshell, is how things have changed since one year ago. Blackbird is no longer a little mystery. She’s a little girl. She has opinions, preferences, thoughts, and observations. All of which she can communicate. And act on.

Let’s look back over the last year.

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Not a fan of the ocean waves. Big fan of the sand.

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Show ‘em what you got, kiddo. Nothing can stop you.

Just remember, when she comes barreling through your town…

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One year. It’s really not that much, even in one person’s life. There are whole years in my own life from which I probably couldn’t recall one clear moment. And yet, when I look at Blackbird, I am stunned at what one year has brought.

Can it have been so little time? Can that little span of time have been so vast? Has this past year* been a good one? Is she happy? Who is she? Is this her that I’m beginning to see? Am I seeing Blackbird, or am I seeing myself through her?

Am I happy? Would the me of a year ago see this as happiness? Or am I a different person for whom the old definitions no longer apply? Has she changed me or have I changed myself for her?

After one year, I couldn’t say for sure. But this isn’t about me, so let’s look at Blackbird.

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An important date has come and gone: Blackbird has now, officially, spent more time kicking around the outside world, learning and developing, than she did chillin’ in the womb, wedging her little butt into mom’s pelvis.

But another date, a very auspicious date, has also arrived. With little ceremony, but great fanfare, Blackbird crossed the threshold and asserted herself on the world. Her power of self-determination is now manifest. Behold! Blackbird can stand up.

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Blackbird waved yesterday. Three times. She watched us waving hello or goodbye to her, tentatively lifted her arm, then moved it back and forth with a gentle flex of her fingers. Our eighth month has been about these first steps from helpless baby into able and curious child.

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