No Longer Uncharted

We hit a new milestone on Friday.  

We are no longer in totally uncharted territory.

Gabriel was our first newborn.  Until Mr. G came home, Elisabeth was the youngest child we'd ever had...

...and she was five days shy of 14 months on the day we first held her.

Mr. G hit that "5 days shy of 14 months" mark on Friday.

Despite being about 7 pounds more than Elisabeth at that same point, and the fact that E hadn't yet learned to crawl when we first met her, Mr. G seems younger than Elisabeth did.  Maybe it's because she was so serious (especially the first few days).  Maybe it's because  her thinner face (and body) was less babyish-looking.  

It has been wonderfu, amazing, miraculous...and hard - all at once - to go through those first stages with a child...facing situations and decisions that we simply never had to face before.

(BTW - the "hard" part is because of my stress-case personality...the times when I worry and try to figure things out in my own wisdom instead of continuously leaning into the Lord for HIS wisdom.)

I do know that I am a different mama than I was to my first 14-month old, 8.5 years ago...

...and the changes are (mostly) for the better!