Happy 1st Birthday, Grace!

Dear Grace Renee,

Today we celebrated your FIRST birthday!  We had a nice party and invited lots of family.  Everyone was happy to come help us celebrate your first year of life!  A lot has changed since I wrote your last letter on your 6 month birthday.  Here are some of the highlights of the second half of your first year:

• You started to eat solids!  We started with oatmeal and then moved on to sweet potatoes.  I enjoy making a lot of your baby food and you sure enjoy eating it!  Your favorite foods are banana oatmeal, yogurt and sweet potatoes.
• You love drinking water out of your sippy cup!
• Mommy & Daddy bought a new house!  We said goodbye to our apartment and moved in on June 12, 2010.  That same day you learned up to pull yourself up!
• At 7.5 months old you learned how to give kisses.  It was the cutest thing ever!  These days you make an adorable “mmmm” sound as you go in for the smooch!
• You started crawling and then just 2.5 weeks later you were taking your first steps!  Grace you were only 9.5 months old!!!  Didn’t you get the memo that you were too little to be walking?? 
• You are oh-so-cute when you do “so big,” clap your hands and wave “bye-bye.”
• You completed the summer reading program at the library and now reading books is one of your favorite things to do!
• We went on TWO family beach vacations!  You loved the zoo, aquarium, ocean, boardwalk and family time.
• Ma’Ma was first!  Then Da’Da.  We are still waiting for your next word!
• You finally got some teeth at 10 months!  It makes eating a little hard with just those two little teeth on the bottom, but teething isn’t too much fun so we won’t rush it!  For now we are enjoying brushing those two little pearly whites.
• We started going to Aunt Amy’s Little Steps Story Time at the library!  I can tell already that you are going to LOVE it!
• This summer you had a blast swimming in your baby pool in the backyard.  When you weren’t swimming you were trying to eat rocks!
• I can’t believe you are using a fork!  I load it up with soft chunks of pear and you gobble them up!
• You don’t really love going into the nursery at church, but you are a good girl and we never have to come back to get you.
• I am extremely proud to say that you have been exclusively breastfed for a FULL YEAR!  We were able to donate 575 oz of milk to NICU babies and we still had enough that we haven’t needed to use any formula!

Grace Renee, I love you so very much!  It has been fun to see you grown and learn new things.  You are changing so fast these days that I can hardly keep up!  I can’t wait to see what the next year olds, but I hope it goes slowly because I don’t want to miss a thing!  I am so proud to be your mommy! 

Hugs & Kisses!

Mommy