Dear Everleigh,
Today you are officially ONE YEAR OLD.
The comment everyone made over and over was that you were so aware, so observant. You looked everyone right in the eyes and made them squirm a little. You seemed like such an old soul.
Then the crying started. It didn't stop. Your poor little colicky self would cry for hours, and hours, and hours. Sometimes I would cry too. You cried most of the time your were awake for the first few months of your life. Maybe you missed the comfort of the womb. Maybe you had tummy troubles. We may never know. We just held you, wrapped you up, nursed you, sang you songs, and tried to make sure you felt loved.
You grew out of it. You got happier. You got bigger and stronger and more curious. You crawled at 6 months old. That same week, you started pulling yourself to stand. You took your first steps at 9 months, and perfected walking by 10 months. You have slept through the night ONCE in the past 12 months (hey, you can't win them all right?). You are strong and brave and smart as a whip.
You love people, animals, plants, flowers, the outdoors. You make a friend just about everywhere we go, which is something I love about you.
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What you're doing right now:
You have your bottom front teeth, and finally are getting your top front teeth. You've had a tough time with these, and it bothers you a lot, but I'm convinced you're going to have an awesome smile when you finally get em in. You know what it means if we ask you if you want your teething tablets or your Oragel, and you usually tell us yes or no with an excited point or a shake of the head.
You are constantly moving--running, walking, sometimes even crawling just for kicks. You love to chase mommy and daddy, or to be chased. Sometimes you let us catch you on purpose so you can get tickled. You don't like being held unless you're sleepy.
You love books and have us read the same ones over and over and over and over and over. Your favorites are the Gyo Fugikawa books: Babies, 10 Little Babies, Puppies, Pussycats and Other Friends, and Let's Play. You like to look for all the "doggies" and "kitty cats" in the books and point to them excitedly. Oh yes, you now say (in your sweet little baby voice) "mama", "daddy", "doggie", and "kit cat". You tried to say balloon, but it came out more like "ahh-oooh". I can't wait until you're in full on talking mode. It seems like you have a lot to say!
You really honed your ability to tell us no by shaking your head this month. You will shake your head no if someone tries to hold you or kiss you and you don't want them to. You shake your head no if we ask you "do you want some food?" "your sip cup?" "some milk?". It sometimes takes several tries to guess what you want, but it's cool to know for sure you want or don't want something now.
You flipped when we took you to the pet store. Your love for doggies is huge right now. While we never fancied ourselves as pet people, both daddy and I were a hair away from buying you a puppy on the spot just to make you happy.
You love life. You're difficult, but worth it. You seem really smart--you only have to be told once to get it (whether or not you follow rules is another story). Your curiosity is contagious.
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I could go on and on about how much I love you and how amazing you are, but people have jobs and lives and other things to attend to :) I guess I just want you to know how much you mean to me--how much you've changed my life in so many ways. I'm so lucky to be your mommy. Happy Birthday, Ev.
With all my love,
Mommy
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