1 Year

Darling Girl,

Happy 12 Months! I cannot believe you are almost a year old. Soon you will no longer be considered a baby, but instead a toddler. You will always be my baby, the apple of my eye. I say this every month, but time is going by too fast and I am trying to soak up every moment while you're this little.

You are 18.7 pounds and 31 inches long. You are wearing all 12 month clothing, as well as a lot of 12-18 month sizes too. Your hair is a sandy brown with red highlights, and is longer in the front and on the sides so it comes to little points around your ears. Your soft fine hair will finally hold a bow, so I attempt to put one in your hair daily. Your eyes have stayed a dark blue grey and you still have no teeth. I love your gummy smile.

I thought you were ready to wean, but you continue to nurse every morning, even if it's only a few minutes. You drink three 8 ounce bottles of formula a day, and eat three meals plus an afternoon snack. You tried strawberries, guacamole, pork tacos, a corn dog, pineapple and rosemary chicken this month - you loved all of it! You still sleep 11-13 hours a night and your naps are becoming a consistent 45 minutes in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon.

You took your first step last month, but last week, you decided it was time to walk. You practiced taking a few steps between your dad and I, and the next night, you stood up from a sitting position and walked across the room. This was a life changing moment for me, and I cried a little, realizing how independent you are. I am so proud of you!

However, you have definitely started to show a little separation anxiety when we drop you off at the church nursery, or when someone else comes over that you're not totally familiar with. I don't mind it one bit because it means you feel safe with us and know who to go to when you're unsure of the world. You also prefer me over anyone else when you get hurt or scared, and especially when we haven't seen each other all day. I think I'm your favorite, but time will tell!

We taught you where your belly is, and when we ask you about it, you'll pull up your shirt and point to it and smile. You also know what a nose is and can easily identify it on both a human and a dog's face. When you take a bath, we ask you to help us, and you'll rub the soap suds on yourself and your hair. You new favorite activity is for us to turn on some music from our iPhone and hand it to you - you'll hold it and bounce to the beat.

Hugs and kisses are given freely to your parents, grandparents and all our friends and their children. On your last night as my not yet one year old, I held you after your bedtime bottle, your head cradled in the crook of my left arm, my right arm wrapped around your warm body. I sang the song I always sing before bed, kissing your forehead and cheeks and nose and chin, and as I went to kiss your little lips, you put your arm around my neck and kept me close. You kept pulling me back each time I tried to lift my head, so I laid my cheek against yours and whispered, "I love you" again and again, tears starting to well up in my eyes. I think you knew I needed that from you, one good snuggle on your last night of your first year of life. Thank you sweet Brighton for loving your mommy so well.

Brighton Love, your first year of life was full of such joy, adventure and love. Your daddy and I are so blessed to have you as our daughter, and we are so thankful that you are here with us. We waited so long for you and when we found out that we were pregnant, there was so much rejoicing - you were our miracle baby. Your life brought me back to my faith, to hope and to my belief that good things happen to those who wait. We pray that we can continue to honor the gift you are by raising you to be a strong, intelligent, kind person, full of compassion and love. There are so many good things to come and I can't wait to see what's in store for you. We love you more than you can imagine and we are forever grateful for you being part of our family.

Happy 1st Birthday darling girl. We love you!