When we returned home, Freya practiced walking and I caught a few steps on video for everyone to enjoy with their mountains of candy. The quality is a bit crappy due to being captured with my cell phone and the lighting in our TV room needs some work.

Minutes after her arrival (Oct 27, 2009):

One year ago she was born and became very real to me, no longer an abstract idea but a very real, very small, human being. I’ve found myself in a strange haze of time dysmorphia as Freya’s birth seems like it happened yesterday while simultaneously seeming like many years have passed. I would blame sleep deprivation but, honestly, Freya was sleeping through the night (except when nursing, of course) soon after we brought her home. I lose more sleep because of my job than I do my daughter. but admitting that to other new parents makes me feel a little guilty.

Recently (Oct 06, 2010):

Skip ahead one year, add a bunch of coos and laughter a pinch of fussy baby stuff and we arrive back in the present. Over the weekend we had a small birthday party which Freya likely won’t remember but Jane and I appreciate the thoughtful cards and gifts she received from friends and family. In addition to a birthday celebration, it was a good excuse for us to socialize, which we don’t do often enough.

After the party died down, she stood up near her toybox with no support and did her little bouncy knee dance for what seemed like a long time before she plopped down on her butt and clapped her hands. An hour or two later she was hugging Jane and I stretched out my hand barely out of her reach and she took what I consider to be her first solo step as she bridged the gap between mommy and daddy. Soon, I fear she will be wreaking real havoc on our house as she runs from room to room bounding over baby gates putting metal things into electrical sockets.

I really hope she is more sensible than that…

Happy Birthday, Freya!

Dear neglected blog, don’t take it personally. I’m just not an active blogger. It’s me, not you. I hope we can still be friends.

One and one half months since my last posting, how absurd. Here’s the short version of some family stuff.

Jane and Freya joined me on my latest work trip to San Francisco and our sweet little muffin was a fantastic flying companion. Our flight from SEA to SFO was delayed by one hour which mucked up her feeding schedule and put her in a foul mood as we were boarding but it was short lived.

This month (March), Freya has started crawling backward and is able to push herself up on her arms very nicely. My favorite progressions in her development, though, is her laugh. Last week as Jane carried her around the house, Freya was laughing about everything, it seemed like she was practicing for some hilarious event that will eventually occur in her life. I really should make an audio recording and post it.

Unfortunately, my clock reads 11:28pm and I need to finish some house chores before running off to sleep so I will end the post here. Perhaps I will make more of an effort at regular updates.

But, the reason I started this post is to show off a super awesome gift we received late last week. Freya’s first sleeping bag, gifted by my co-workers.

NOTE: Click for larger view … really larger view because I uploaded the super large photos after I realized I didn’t install photo editing software on my laptop after a recent HD reformat.

If you would like one of these bad boys for yourself, head over to thinkgeek.com before they run out again.