October 13, 2010 - Need I Say More?

Happy Birthday to my little girl with the lovely smile, the dark chocolate eyes that gleam, the infectious laugh, the still chubby legs, the never ending curiosity, the love of books, the independent streak beyond her age, the dis-interest in walking, the sparkling personality, the occasional temper tantrums and her mommy and daddy's hearts beating to her every breath.

Every mother says it, but it's because it's so true - I can't believe one year went by so quickly. Slow down little one, your mommy can't keep up and I don't want to miss a moment. You are one... wow, one! It was one year ago today you came a little early and a lot unexpectedly. But you brought with you a joy this family so desperately needed and you saved me. You blessed me. You made me the woman I didn't know was inside me. And you gave me my favorite title so far in life: mom. I don't think any will ever beat that one.

At one you are finally getting some thicker hair, that Mohawk you were sporting is gone.

At one you have several words. No longer do you say mama and dada only, but mommy and daddy, drawling out the "ee" sound at the end. You say "tee" for tree and "dee" for dog. You say "hey" when we're not paying enough attention to you. And you babble on and on with so many other words that you know well, we grown ups are just a little slow to catch on.

You love to shake your head "no." You know what the word "no" means, but you usually ignore it's meaning when we direct the word at you.

You point your finger at everything. You love to suck, not your thumb, but your index finger, usually your right index finger.

You eat solid foods, turkey and turkey sausage are some of your favorites. You'll also eat cheese, yogurt, buttered bread, cake, icing, ice cream, pancakes (mostly blueberry) and chicken. You also still take formula in a bottle, but that's about to end.

You crawl all over the place, crawl up onto things, pull up and walk along while holding something and you giggle when you walk while holding our hands. But you seem to have no desire to walk on your own. I know it will come one day.

You have the best laugh of anyone I've ever known. Seriously, you do.

Your chubby baby legs still catch many people's eye. They comment on them and grab your legs and say how adorable those legs of yours are. It's true, they're addictingly adorable.

You still wake up one to three times a night on average, but usually go back to sleep within minutes. This of course happens after mommy or daddy pick you up and walk you in circles. That seems to be a requirement in your book and we oblige.

On that note, you seem to know well you have both your parents wrapped around your little fingers... wrapped very, very tightly.

You love our dogs, Bacchus and Bailey. You laugh when they come near. They are patient with you, even as you pull their hair, ears, paws and Bailey's tail.

You love books and will sit for quite a while by yourself just turning the pages as if you were reading the stories already.

You are smart and beautiful and fun and I love you to the moon and back.

Happy Birthday darling!

And what's a birthday without all the things you like.

Like waking up to playtime with daddy and mommy...

Or heading out for some ice cream, birthday cake flavor of course!

And the sweetness didn't stop when I was making your cake.
(thanks for the picture Georgia's Aunt Jenna!)

Then there was your very first birthday present!!! Thanks to great-grandparents Marjie Mearns and G.P. Your sweet cousin Avery helped show you how to play with it.

Then it was cake time...

And let's end the day with one more present,why not? Papa got you a UGA (Georgia) rocking chair that you fell in love with immediately!!!

Happy, happy birthday to you!