Happy Birthday Lauren!!!

My baby Lauren,

I can’t believe you are a year old already! Happy Birthday!

You have grown so much this year, and every day I enjoy watching your personality emerge. You are a fairly cautious girl, yet you love to explore. You don’t like new people or new situations, and it takes you some time to warm up to strangers. When grandma and grandpa come to visit, it takes you almost a whole day before you’ll let them hold you! You like to be close to mama and sometimes cry if a stranger looks at you the wrong way.

You love to “talk”, but only around people you know. You can say a few words, but mama knows you know what many more words mean. You can say “mama”, “baby” (buhbee), and “yellow” (ello). You know other words like “num-nums”, “bye-bye”, “daddy”, “kitty”, “ball”, and you will give mama things when she asks. You are such a smart girl!

You are fascinated by the kitties, and are learning to be gentle around them. Sammie likes you and will let you pet him, or even tug on his tail once in a while, but Chloe is a little scared of you! You know how to “pet nicely” now, and I think the kitties will be your friends when you are older.

Climbing is your new favorite activity. Just today you climbed up on your chair that mama made you all by yourself! You can climb up steps at the playground and love to try to climb out of your high chair and stroller. You can climb into the recliner all by yourself and you try to get up on the couch. Sometimes you scare mama with all that climbing!

Your favorite book is Millie Moo. You love to feel the different textures on the pages and help mama turn the page as we read. You also love “reading” books all by yourself and will sit and look at a book for 15 minutes at a time. Mama made you a photo album with lots of babies in it that you also love to look at. You have a Baby LeapPad that you like to play with and make the pages make sounds.

You’ve taken swim classes since you were seven months old and you’re quite the little swimmer! Your teacher, Miss Kim, says you are doing very well! You can almost climb out of the pool by yourself and just the other day you managed to put the balls in the basket all by yourself! You can swim underwater for a few seconds and are getting better every day. You’ve always loved the water and I’m glad that we are able to give you swim lessons.

Nursing is your favorite pastime, and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. You just love your mama milk! You also love vegetables, including green beans, peas, and sweet potatoes. You don’t really like too many fruits, except pears, and will not eat bananas or peaches. You love YoBaby and Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies for snacks and love to feed yourself. Your favorite food, though, is pizza. You can eat almost an entire slice yourself!

You’re not walking quite yet, but we catch you standing on your own a few times a day. You are one speedy crawler, though. If mama turns her head for just a second, you are gone in a flash!

Daddy and I want you to know that you are so loved. We will always love you and will be proud of you no matter where life takes you. You will always be our little rooster.

Love,

Mama