Audrey: 12 Months

I'm going to write this update letter style. It is a bigger milestone than an monthly update, so it should be different.

Dear Audrey,

You, my baby girl, just turned one. I cannot believe you have been with us for a whole year. I asked your dad a couple weeks ago if he remembered what life was like before we had you and he simply said "no." He did not mean it is a bad way, he meant I can no longer imagine my life without Doots. I can't either.

You are such an amazing little girl. You are walking everywhere these days. You are sleeping all night long. You love to play and chatter. You love, love the pets. You love food, all kinds. You will eat almost anything right now. Last night you had shrimp, cabbage, and bell pepper stir fry. You wolfed it down and asked for more. Please continue to be a good eater as time goes by, your dad and I really like to eat a wide variety of food. Basically, you love life. At least I think you do.

You also love your dad and me a lot more than you used to. Well, I'm guessing you have always loved us a lot, but you never have really seemed to care if we are around. That has changed a bit, you seek us out a lot more and are slow to leave our side when out. You still are very independent, but it sure is nice to have you acknowledge that we are important to you. Because you sure are important to us.

Your communication skills have really started to blossom in the past week or so. You seem to be adding words. But more importantly, you appear to acknowledge an answer select questions. You also signed milk for the first time yesterday. That was pretty cool! I know I will regret saying this when you are asking me a million questions, but I am so excited for you to be able to communicate with us. Won't it be nice when you can tell us what you want.

Of course the other side of the communication equation is communicating your frustration. You definitely have started to throw fits when you don't get what you want. I know you would like to play with the remote all day and night, but it just isn't going to happen. Currently, you are pretty quick to get over your disappointment. I know that won't last either.

Your first year has been wonderful. Your birth was great! We struggled to breastfeed, but we persevered and you are still going strong. You came with us to cut down your first Christmas Tree. You saw snow. You rolled, you crawled, you walked. You took an airplane ride to see grandma and grandpa, we take another one tomorrow. At 6 am., Here's hoping it goes as well as the first. You watched mom play roller derby. You watched dad run races. You went to the zoo. You went on a road trip to the beach in North Carolina. You swung. You dressed up as a giraffe. You became a little girl. A toddler.

Some things have stayed pretty consistent. You like your sleep. You love your monster. You love the pets, all animals really. You love music. More recently you love to dance. You love daddy. You love going for runs and walks in the woods. You love to be tossed, dropped, swung, etc. You love life, I would say. Though you do still hate getting your nose wiped and most of the time your diaper changed.

You are my sweet, independent, bubbly, happy, smart, energetic girl. I love you so much, Audrey. I could not ask for a better baby girl.

Happy birthday. I hope you enjoy your cake this weekend more than you enjoyed your cupcake on your birthday.

Love,
Mama