Leya's First Ever Birthday!

One year ago today we were blessed with the birth of our littlest Sweet Love, Leya.

Dearest Leya,

You are a complete joy and I count my lucky stars every day to be your mommy. At just one year old your dainty little self is full of personality. You are the most curious of the bunch. You are constantly investigating every nook and cranny of our house. And mischief follows you. You get into things that your brother and sister never thought to do. I want to list them here so I never forget your silly shenanigans:

1. You love to play in the houseplants, grabbing handfuls of dirt to sprinkle around and sometimes even taste if we turn our backs on you for longer than a second.
2. You also find the bathroom to be the most fascinating room in the house and can't understand why we won't allow you to splash your little hands in the 'pool.'
3. You love your toys, especially right after I've put them away, and food tastes so much better when it is on your brother or sister's plates.
4. The stairs are your Everest that you are determined to climb.
5. You are certain that tupperware lids and pot lids are better kept in the family room.
6. You love to color with markers...on your face and shirt.
7. And I'm pretty sure you'd feel right at home with a nudist colony.

Your daddy thinks you would have been better named 'Chievious' so we could call you Little Miss Chievious. :)

When you aren't trying to figure out the world around you through hands-in exploration, you are so super sweet. You have a beloved (filthy) blanket known as Stinky Binky that is your security object. You hug it and hold it close, especially when it is time to sleep, and your eyes light up when you catch sight of it when you haven't seen it in a little while. For your birthday I was determined to find you the perfect first baby doll. I think I succeeded. Seeing you wrap your arms tightly around her in a hug brings me so much peace. I know babies learn from example and I'm so glad to see you have learned how to love, and you are such a good mama to your baby doll. You are very affectionate. When someone familiar picks you up, your wrap your arms around them in a tight hug and nestle into their neck/shoulder or chest. You are a cuddle-bug! You give big open-mouthed kisses but only when you feel like it, which lucky for us is pretty often. Your love your brother and sister to the moon and they love you right on back.

You are an animal lover as well. You say dada and this sometimes refers to our dog. You follow her around and go into giggle fits when she lets you touch her. You have a love/hate relationship with our hamster. You cry and cry for us to either hold you in front of her cage or have us put her cage on the coffee table so you can watch her. Then you squeal and giggle in delight...until you decide holding her would be far more fun and them scream and bang on her cage. It doesn't get any better from here.

You have been self-weaning for a few months now and we are down to nursing mainly before bed time. You really liked having a bottle of formula to carry around with you and today we began the switch to whole milk. You do great with it. You still wake up once or twice a night, nurse for 5 minutes and go right back down.

You are a fabulous eater. Seriously you eat with such gusto that we have a hard time keeping up with you. I'm usually the last one done eating since I am so busy cutting up your bites for you. You now reject baby food and eat whatever we are eating, unless it has eggs in it. Then you get our go-to Velveeta Shells and Cheese or an egg-free Gerber Graduate meal. As far as we know, you are still allergic to eggs. But I pray everyday that you will outgrow it soon. We are actually waiting for some test results right now that will tell us more about your egg yolk allergy. Fingers crossed and prayers up. If I put the food on a fork for you, you will feed yourself with it. Yes, I believe you are gifted.

You are still a dainty little flower, weighing in at 14 lbs 10 oz and 27 inches long. Just like your sister, you are no where near the chart but keeping to your own growth curve. You are a healthy little thing too! Always bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready for the day.

You have 5 teeth and are working hard on getting number 6.

You love your shoes, bring them to us to put on you and often chew on them (yes, sometimes when they are still on your feet). You like to brush your own hair and if you know a bow is in your hair will take it out immediately. I have to immediately distract you after fixing your hair so you will leave the bows alone.

You took your first steps 9 days before your birthday! You love walking and are getting really good at it. You are still wobbly and most often have your hands out in front of you or above your head trying to hold your balance but you are learning fast.

We love you so much sweet baby Leya. Happy First Ever Birthday!
"She's happy as can be..." The Beatles