1

Wow.  Took a while to blow the dust off this blog, but here it is.

I had to say that my darling little bumblebee is one.  I know it can be gross to gush about your own kids, but since there's likely no one left reading here, I'm going to indulge myself.

She has truly been a delight every day of the past year.  Even the hard times weren't all that hard.  The occasional waking.  Being vomited on.  It was almost entirely doable and all viewed through the lens of the last child experience.  I think ALL the time (probably to a slightly unhealthy degree) that I have to enjoy her babyhood NOW because it's going by so much faster this time.

But she's done a good job of holding up her end of the bargain at making it enjoyable. 

What I'm loving at this moment is...

When she toddles over to give my knees a big hug.  I just love that.

When she runs away when I'm trying to get her dressed and doesn't quite understand how the game of tag works so when I go after her,  she comes running back towards me, laughing.

When she waves, claps, (tries to) blow kisses and says "bye". 

When she dances, she bounces up and down and bobs her head side to side.  It just doesn't come much cuter.  This kid loves music!

Hugs around the neck.  Love, love, love!

She loves to get herself into as small a container as possible.  Small box, baking dish, what have you.

She often uses baby toys for their intended purpose.  This is new to me and it's really quite remarkable.

It's not hard to get a laugh out of this kid and she is a willing participant in whatever kind of silly activity is on tap.

Of course, she's not perfect....

She's still navigating her relationship with her sister and does not always appreciate big sister getting attention from Mom or sis catching a ride on the front of her stroller.  This got ugly when she kicked sis off the front of the stroller....

She's a crazy climber just like her sister, sigh.  Her favorite activity is to climb onto a tall chair and rock it back and forth while standing.

She's pretty attached to me at the moment, which is a mixed blessing and a first for me.  I confess that I enjoy being so loved and needed and I'm trying to survive being sooooo needed. 

She can be a tough little cookie.  She seems to be getting over the biting phase (though not derived from a malicious place, it was still quite scary!), she can growl or make an uproar when she doesn't get her way.  We'll see how this turns out. 

Boy though, this kid is loveable.  Enough so that she was voted (unofficially) the favorite baby at daycare by the older kids.  It's true!   Even from those whose pants she's pulled down and whom she may have bitten.  I can't argue with them.