Alexa is One!

My little baby girl is one….wow, one already. Is it normal for each year to pass faster and faster?

Alexa Melanie Carvalho

The first year is exciting, sleepless, fun, stressful, rewarding, exhausting, busy, emotional and amazing all rolled into 365 days. As I reflect on Alexa's first year of life I feel ridiculously happy, extremely proud and am I allowed to say a little bit relieved? Lexi’s arrival was much different from Ian’s. He took his time, arriving after 26 hours of labour including 4 ½ hours of pushing. My labour with Lexi was 4 hours and 5 minutes from first contraction to first newborn cry. That was pretty much the easiest part of Alexa’s first month of life.Lexi's First Snuggle with Her Big BrotherMe with my favourite boy and favourite girl.

The first month was a month of smiles and excitement about our new family member but also a month of tears, mostly mine. There were several sleep deprived nights where I cradled my screaming newborn wondering if we had done the right thing in deciding to have another baby. Other nights were spent with Cam cradling me while I breastfed Lexi with tears streaming down my face, biting my lip against the extreme pain. But, babies are made cute for good reason. Survival. And things got better, much better.

Months 5-8 were full of excitement and change. Lexi got her first teeth and started crawling and the Carvalho family had an amazing trip to Australia. The months we have spent travelling as a family, first to Thailand and Vietnam with Ian and now to Australia with both kids have left us with indelible memories, we are so grateful to have had these experiences.
Hallowe'en

When Lexi was 9 months old she started school. We are so lucky that we found an amazing daycare for the kids. They both love it there and have really thrived. Alexa is still the youngest and smallest in the class but definitely not the most timid thanks to her big personality and the "skills" she has learned from interactions with her big brother. At 10 months she started walking (yes, 10 months) and now she's running. She now seems like a little girl and I have had to use the explanation "sometimes girls are just like that.." on more than one occasion in answer to a question from Ian about Lexi's behaviour. She is such a ham, she loves people, she loves to laugh and she still loves to cause trouble.

A couple of my favourites....

My bestest friend, Kristin called on Lexi’s birthday to see how I was handling the fact that my baby was not a newborn any more (in fact she’s pretty much on her way to toddler right now), to find out if I was mourning. It’s funny, I loved having my babies (yes, lovED- 2 careers, 2 healthy kids, 1 boy, 1 girl, done & done) but I love my “soon-to-be” toddler and my preschooler just as much if not more. Now they can say "Mommy, I love you" (or in Ian's case- "Mommy I love Daddy more than you"). They can crawl up into my lap and plant sloppy kisses on my lips, they can look up at me with their eyes of liquid chocolate (inheirited from their dad) with arms outstretched for hugs. They can DO stuff now, fun stuff like ride bikes and do puzzles and play hockey and draw pictures. So, do I feel a little melancholy about the fact that I won't experience the kicks of a growing baby inside my tummy again, that I won't breastfeed a newborn again, that I won't have an infant to nuture and watch grow into a little person? Yes. But am I sad? Definitely not.


I am excited about Lexi's second year of life. She already has a deplorable excess of personality that is bound to develop even more. She will start to talk. She will run more than she already does. I'm sure she will get into even more trouble. She will continue to develop her relationships with her big Brother, Ian and her little cousin, Ciel. I'm going to cherish every moment right along with her. I don't want to wish the days away so I'm vowing not to say "I can't wait until...".

I really think this is why mothers have daughters- putting pigtails in Lexi's hair for the first time was the highlight of my week. Her cuteness factor in this picture is ridiculously high.

As my colleague says, the days are long but the years are short. One year has passed at the speed of light so I am dedicated to enjoying every minute of every day. Every hug and every smile. Every snuggle and every new word. Every food fight and every hockey game. Every second I spend with my three peeps.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEXI!!