LE Turns One!

*Guest Blogger: Dad!**

We’ve been tremendously blessed in the last 365 days to have such a wonderful child. And we’re only just beginning— it’s quite exciting. She’s really active these days: almost walking (only needs to hold on to one of our fingers to toddle along), babbling a lot, and has a renewed interest in all of her toys and things that we left behind while we were in Fiji. Especially the cat—she loves that thing. She’s good at using expressions like clapping and waving, and has learned how to shake her head “no” (though we don’t think she fully comprehends the meaning yet). 

But she’s blessed too—she has a great network of family and friends who have covered her in prayer, and, over the last few days, birthday presents! She got a new tricycle from Nicole and me (a fancy German one that we found 70% off at Oompa), and fun books and games from relatives (thanks!).

Saturday was a nice day to go for the first spin.

We had a pretty low-key celebration for LE over the weekend, with the token give-a-baby-a-cake-and-see-what-happens bit. It was actually an über-healthy carrot-banana-date cupcake (with no added sugar), but I mistakenly gave her the one with the sweetened frosting instead of the whipped cream frosting that Nicole made for her. Oh well. She seemed to enjoy that, almost as much as she enjoyed sharing the icing with her mom.

Pre-cake

LE contemplating the cupcake

Skeptical

\

Getting that finger ready

Excitement sets in once the flame goes out.

First swipe of the cupcake

First swipe of mom's face. 

ta da!

Not much more celebration for this b-day, though; we’re saving up for next year: Bounce house, pony rides, clowns, and an oxygen bar! And we just learned that after the flight to Fiji, LE has now achieved Platinum on Delta- way to go!   OK, that’s not really true, but she has flown a lot, and that’s kind of cool.

Stay tuned for more on Fiji!


**Notes from Nicole:

LE also will hug when asked and is a very social kiddo. She'll make noises and stare at a stranger until they turn around and look at her. She will smile a huge smile and usually kick her feet and wave in excitement. She's a silly girl and loves attention. Every single place we go (or close to it), someone will say, "Now that's a happy baby! Is she always that happy?" and I get the pleasure of saying yes, unless, of course, she's starving, sick, or really tired. 

Now that she's the big 1 year, she allowed to start drinking cow's milk. She's had no issues and is making the transition quite well.  She continues to love eating; she pants, bites, or repeatedly makes a pop sound when she is hungry.

Lastly, John mentioned the walking, and while she is not truly walking yet, she is close. She stands on her own, and on occasion she'll take a tentative step. We thought that she'd learn to walk in Fiji, but they carried her almost nonstop, causing her to regress. The affection she received from them far outweighed the minor walking setback.