You would think I’d be over it by now.

You would think that by the 77th day of having my boob sucked whilst I focus intently on my daughter’s teeny tiny features and actions – the way her free arm waves about until her hand finds my boob and then she pushes on it as if summoning more milk; the way her eyes stare into mine or dart around the room or sometimes roll back into her head when she starts to drift off into sleep; the way she gulps with her entire body and wheezes to catch her breath; the way she fits perfectly across my body, resting in my arms – you would think that after 77 days of watching this, that I would no longer be amazed by it all.

You would think that – and you would be wrong.

Tonight I made this salad for dinner with some chicken breasts stuffed with sundried tomato & mozzarella cheese. Irrelevant? Perhaps.

But as I was cooking, I was thinking about how every little single thing that I have consumed in the past year has gone into creating this:

Exaggeration? I have no idea. But so far she is growing, thriving and getting chubby from my boob-milk alone. You gotta admit that’s pretty darn neat-o.  One entire year (today!) has gone into making this beautiful little girl.

It’s been a year well spent. We:

• made a baby in San Francisco
• celebrated my birthday in Portland, Oregon
• moved into a new apartment in downtown Vancouver
• took Ivan for his first ever kayak trip!
• saw the Kings of Leon play at The Gorge in Washington
• saw Angus & Julia Stone play in Vancouver, Canada
• trained ivan for his first ever triathlon!
• spent 2 weeks in mexico in Ivan’s hometown
• moved to new zealand
• spent a week camping around the north island of NZ
• visited Waiheke Island
• gave birth to the most beautiful little girl

On our list of things still to do before we leave NZ in November:

• visit the snow in the central north island
• visit wellington as a family
• hike the pinnacles (just ivan and i)
• hike the tongariro crossing (just ivan and i)
• spend a week or 2 driving the south island as a family

Make sure to let me know if you think there’s something we must do before we leave!