Happy Birthday, Baby Doll!

I know you are excited for another recipe and I actually have one for you, but I’m not going to post it until tomorrow because today is Baby Doll’s first birthday! I’ve already shared her birth story with you, so that made me wonder if I had enough material to give you a decent post…but then Teach put in the pictures and I just had to smile. Baby Doll loves to have her picture taken!

My sweetie calls her a chameleon because she has the most beautiful eyes and they actually appear to change color. I’m not really sure what color they are. The closest I can guess is gray. But they range from blue to green to hazel to almost brown.

As you can see from the newborn pics, she had lots of black hair when she was born. Sadly, most of that fell out and she has been pretty slow growing more in. Since she doesn’t have much of her own, she has developed a healthy fascination for hair belonging to other people. With a mischievous little twinkle in her eye, she purposely pulls mine and then waits for me to react. That fact that she likes to get in trouble worries me.

She has hit most of her milestones right on time, but she doesn’t really seem all that excited about walking since she can crawl so quickly. She has a silly little crawl with one knee and one foot, but every time the front door opens, she is headed straight for it! She hasn’t fallen out on her nose yet, but I’m waiting for the day…She is good with stairs, both up and down.

She loves to eat all kinds of things, but my favorite to watch is noodles, particularly Ramen soup. She slurps them down. She is a very appreciative vocal eater. When she really likes something she will mmm and sigh and chew all at the same time.

She doesn’t like to sleep by herself although I usually let her nurse until she is out and then I put her in the crib. Sometimes it only takes a minute before she is fussing and wants to get in bed with me. Other nights she sleeps all night in the crib. She loves water…showers and baths and swimming pools! She is a good little traveler and she doesn’t mind her car seat.

She hates to go to church and I rarely get a chance to sit through an entire meeting. She loves music and the piano. She is fascinated with Just Dance and her favorite song is “Big Girls You are Beautiful.” (I wonder what that means?) She loves books and toys, and she puts everything in her mouth just to see if it tastes good.

When she was a newborn, I used to take her with me to play volleyball and then a few months later, basketball. She would just sit in her carseat, calmly watching the action. One day I brought her in asleep and didn’t turn her seat the right way. She woke up complaining until I turned her around so she could see us play. Then she was fine!

She has four sharp little teeth and she likes to take a little nip out of me when she can. She is getting pretty steady on her feet and she walks around the furniture and with her little wheeled car. It won’t be long before she is walking. She likes to pinch, and not just me. The kids are always complaining about her pinchy little fingers. She is so cute when she claps to the “If you’re happy and you know it…” song. She only recently got the waving and the “bye” down together, but she does it whenever anybody leaves; even the dog.

I am so excited to see what kind of a person she will become! She already keeps me on my toes and I’m sure that won’t change any time soon. Happy birthday, Baby Doll…Big Girl, you are beautiful! Love you.