Can it really be?

Is my baby really growing up? Can it be that she is actually able to sign thank you and please while also stumbling over the words; "Tank ooo", "Peees". I have finally come to terms that not only has she been she toddling around the house for months now, but that she can also grab a crayon and flee, chortling over her shoulder so as to tease her victim from whom she has stolen.

But who was that little thing in pink at the breakfast table this morning that carefully pulled out a chair and clamboured onto it and then settled herself on her elbows and slowly surveyed the table. Seeing some cookies, she pointed to and received one. Then daintily grasping it between her index finger and thumb, this little creature leaned forward and dipped it into my tea and smiling her most winning smile at me she consumed this delicacy, and then as quickly as she arrived - dissapeared. The red curls slipped down out of sight and the chair grumbled across the floor as she pushed away from it.

Surely this was not my baby? This could not have been my tiny, helpless newborn whom I feel as though I only just brought home from the hospital a short time ago. Could that really have been her? Can it really be?