sailor girl (continued)

my sailor girl wants solid food. she wants mashed potatoes (sweet and white), mac and cheese, meatballs, rice, beans, and big long sweet peas with buttery sauce. she wants to feed herself (like that's really going to work) with big spoons and forks. she drinks milk from a sippy like a pro.
my sailor wants to be anywhere her brother is. she crawls as fast as she can from room to room to find him and touch him and take away his toys. (to be fair, he does a good share of the taking, as well.)
my sailor's hair is long. it hangs in her eyes when i don't put it up, and i won't cut it. i'm looking for long little girl ringlets and braids, frilly dresses, and mary janes. of course, i also like to dress her in blue jeans and a plain brown shirt with bare feet and messy hair....
my sailor girl can climb to the second rung of the playscape ladder and reach for the third, balancing by herself a good foot above the ground. she can swing in our baby swing and she can hang on to the teeter totter while i help her bounce up and down. she can crawl in and out of the sandbox, and she hardly ever eats the sand any more.
my sailor has preferences. she hates hats and for people she doesn't know to hold her. she doesn't like to be changed (diapers or clothes), and she gets impatient now in the cart at the grocery store. she'll throw herself around and scream if you take her toy away. even if her toy is the car keys or the marker or the steak knife i accidentally left within her reach.
the long and short of it is, my little girl is approaching her first birthday. she is independent and willful, and content and playful. she is energetic and courageous, joyful and stubborn by turns.
she is growing into a little person, no longer a passive baby to kiss and cuddle. and while part of me misses my little bundle in the sling, most of me rejoices to see what a beautiful, miraculous thing she is becoming. and the best is yet to come.