The Sweetest Thing

My little principessa is one today. I can’t believe it was only a year ago that I was holding her for the first time, thanking God she opted to arrive 10 days early rather than smack dab on her Christmas due date, and marveling at her thick shock of black hair.

I must confess that when we found out Evie was a girl, I was terrified. I thought I had boy mom down pretty well, and I didn’t know what kind of a relationship to expect with another woman in the house. Now I can’t imagine life without her sweetness.

She’s really the happiest baby in the entire world. She sleeps from 7-7 more often than not, and when she is awake, she is almost supernaturally happy.

She laughs a lot, and she also shrieks like a pterodactyl if her brothers thwart her will or don’t come quick enough with a toy delivery.

Mealtimes are crazy because she sometimes eats more than our 4 year old. Last night she ate a plate of beef stew, a container of baby food, and 6 ounces of milk.

Oh, and did I mention she is still currently toothless? You’d never believe the amount of meat this girl is able to put away on a daily basis, sans dente. It’s the craziest thing you’ll ever see.

She’s still not crawling, pulling up on her own, or walking, but she is scooting her butt all over the house like a teeny human Roomba, buffing the hardwoods with her diapered butt. She does this kind of crab like scuttle that’s hard to describe and hilarious to behold. And she’s pretty fast!

She loves: having her long hair brushed and styled, playing with her brother’s toys, throwing a ball and having it returned to her, all meat and dairy products, bath time, taking showers, her stuffed Catty Cat, stealing sips of mommy’s pellegrino, and the occasional sip of coffee. (Kidding. Mostly.)

She also loves to be laughed at or sung to.

She hates: being forced into a crawling position, most every physical therapist she’s worked with, trips to the chiropractor, having her clothes changed, being told “no,” and riding in the Ergo.

She’s most attached to: John Paul, her mommy, and her stuffed kitty.

She looks like: me, apparently.The past couple weeks we’ve gotten a huge increase in comments about how much we resemble each other. It’s precious. She does have daddy’s big blue eyes, though.

Favorite foods: raisins, steak, chicken, ham, avocados, black beans (never enough black beans), and chocolate anything. She’s officially graduated to dairy milk in her bottles, and she seems to love it.

Stats: 16 lbs, 13 oz as of last night. Around 24 inches long, (but don’t quote me, because John Paul was holding one end of the measuring tape and he’s notoriously sloppy with his figures). Wearing: size 3 diapers, size 9 m sleepers, size 12 m tops and leggings fairly successfully. We do roll sleeves quite a bit. 😉

She’s such a sweet little bug, I love having a one year old in the house. They’re into everything but none of it is malicious, and it’s really fun (and sometimes surprising) to find a little person underfoot everywhere you turn.

Genevieve Therese, my little Evie doll, I love you so! I’m sorry I spent so much of your first year of life worrying obsessively over your growth and development, I’m really going to try to relax and just enjoy you more this coming year (but if you could go ahead and crawl and maybe pop out a single tooth, that’d be great.)

XO,

Mama