Clara - approaching 10 months

10 months. So about 19 months ago, Clara was just this little zygote in my belly. That feels like a loooong time ago given the many milestones we have all gone through as a family. It has been such an amazing journey. Looking back, it was all consuming in every way - physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically, financially - every aspect of our lives have changed. I had no idea what parents had to go through and I really respect and appreciate every parent out there. From the outside looking in (pre-baby days), I saw parents with babies and all I saw was this romanticized vision of what life with a baby was like. Little did I know -----

I wish I have more time to blog. So to sum it up without being very lengthy - she has learned to - eat solid foods, sit up, dance to any sort of music or rhythm, pick up foods with her fingers and direct them to her mouth quite proficiently, babble all sorts of baby words especially da-da (hmmph), no ma-ma- yet.. there is mmmmm when she's enjoying her food.. but not quite ma-ma, she waves (royal wave i.e. like a queen would vs the babyish-up-and-down wave), express her "no" in a variety of way which include physical gestures and loud wailing, and most recently crawled. Yes! Forward crawling. She was going backward for about a month.. and all of a sudden, out of the blue, she just figured out how to crawl forward. It's been about a week and she's getting super good at it. Each day, she gets faster and faster. It's really cute.

It's been so rewarding though - moments when she gives me this funny grin, or laughs at the silliest things I do, crawl towards me in this cutest way (she has a cute butt when she crawls), eats her food and smiles, falls asleep in my arms, snores in her crib, babbles baby words at me - all these moments make those hard ones melt away.

The thought of the fact that we're responsible for her is overwhelming. A day at a time I guess. It's been rewarding and it makes life a lot more meaningful now that we have Clara. Looking back - I wasn't sure I had a clear purpose other than to live life for myself. After Clara, life seems more meaningful and more with a purpose.