Happy Belated 1st Birthday Lovebug!

I wrote this last week on Lovebug's birthday and was going to post it earlier in the week but didn't with the news of my cousin. However, I still wanted to post this for my little 1 year old!

My dear sweet Lovebug, a year ago you were born into this world and our life changed forever. Your Daddy and I often talk about how we don't really remember our life before you or what we did all the time :)...It's strange to think about really. What's even harder to believe is how incredibly fast the first year of your life has gone by!! I always say "time flies when you're having fun", and WOW have we had fun the last 365 days!


You were this tiny little precious baby who breastfed 24/7...well, you still do that :), but now you're my beautiful active almost toddler walking around everywhere, getting into everything, and talking up a storm! You are a sweet happy soul with an adorable smile on your face nearly all the time. You are super silly and love to laugh, but you also study people and things very intently. You're a people watcher and enjoy seing others in action (like your Mama). Your attention span is quite impressive as you will sit and focus on something for quite some time, but then all of a sudden, you're up quickly going somewhere and doing something! I always say you're "one determined gal", which I think is a good thing! You are very strong-willed too and can get quite upset when you don't get to do exactly what you want (but, who doesn't?). You are putting nearly anything you find on the floor in your mouth too so we are having to vacuum quite often!

Speaking of, you love details and will find the tiniest thing to focus on (you get that from your Mama too:)! You are extremely curious and interested in everything around you. You love to "read" and LOVE books - all kinds - especially Mama and Dada's! In fact, you love anything you can turn and tear up, especially mail and catalogues, and specifically if they have pictures of babies. You like all of your toys, but really love your pots/pans, bamboo spoons, and your kitchen, so maybe you'll be a top chef like your Daddy! In fact, you love to watch him cook or me bake. You also love to stack your blocks and take lids on and off of things, and you love your wooden puzzles very much.


You really enjoy looking at pictures, especially if it's of me, Daddy, and/or you. Daddy has taught you how to kick your ball around which you really love doing and will dribble it up and down the hall. You understand and know more words than I thought possible at your age and will go and retrieve nearly anything we ask for - book, ball, monkey, block, etc. etc. You are very adamant about certain things when you talk now and we are trying VERY hard to understand what you're saying. :)

You absolutely LOVE the outdoors and would stay out there all day actually if we let you! You specifically love the grass and leaves - oh you love leaves! You like to say "outside" and say it ALL the time now. You love your nursing pillow and pillows in general, and anything soft. You don't love getting your diaper changed though and you don't love going to sleep (although you like sleeping) but not the actual going to sleep part :). You do love sleeping between your Mama and Dada though and love waking us up in the mornings by lightly patting our faces and speaking softly to us.


You LOVE seeing and being around kids/babies...you love interacting with them and are just super friendly to others. Speaking of, you like to say "hi" and wave to everyone. You also love to blow kisses and give them to us. You are quite snuggly and love to be up next to Mama and Dada. You wrap your sweet arms around our necks as tightly as possible and just squeeze and "oohh" and "aaahh" which is just the most precious thing. I know your Daddy looks forward to that moment every day when he comes home to a smiling baby running towards him and you give him a big hug! Speaking of, you LOVE your Daddy - you two are buddies and love playing together!

You love your clothes and really enjoy getting them ALL out and placing them about the bedroom. You love being worn by Mama and Dada...and putting your head against our chests and just relaxing. You LOVE bananas and avocadoes so very much, but are trying other vegetables and fruit and seem to like nearly all of them thus far. You are actually asking for food now, which we are of course providing you with! However, your first and true love is breastmilk, and we are both still enjoying our nursing relationship very much. You pat my chest and say "mmmm" whenever you want to nurse. Sometimes it's tiring but gosh, I wouldn't trade it for anything because of the bond it has created between us. You still smell as delicious as the day you were born and I don't think there is anything that smells sweeter (well, maybe your Daddy!).


You hit all the milestones early on - rolling over, grasping, sitting up, crawling, talking, walking, and now nearly running, climbing, etc...and you just continue to impress us. We are so very proud of you baby girl and will ALWAYS be no matter what. I've loved you even before you were born as you grew inside of me for 42 weeks and I couldn't wait to see your face and be the best mama possible to you. The moment I saw you, my love for you grew so immensely and continues to do so every day as I learn more and more about you. God blessed us with such a happy, healthy, beautiful baby girl and we couldn't ask for more! You have changed SO much in the last year and it's hard to imagine what the next year holds but so exciting to think about...Happy 1st Birthday Lovebug!

Alright, thank you for reading through ALL of that (if any of you did:)...it's more for Lovebug than anyone else so I can print this out and put it in her book. All of the pics are from her birthday which included lots of playing, a fun trip to the park with Daddy, yummy avocado eating, and a special "cake" of chopped up banana with a bit of this Coconut Cream Frosting on top. I'll tell you more about her fruit cake in the party post...Have a great Thursday - just 1 week until Christmas!