Amber-girl is One Year Old!

It's incredible to think its been a year already and it's incredible to think its only a year.

Baby-girl is so big, sporting 2T clothes, weighing in at 24.6lbs and 30inches.  In addition to our already in place five prong protection plan (i.e. Daddy, Lance, Jared, Titus and Matthew), her height alone will intimidate unworthy males from even thinking of bothering her in the future.  Daddy laid the foundation with the boys, its simple, no male talks to Amber without the expressed permission of her father.  Its the job of the four boys to see to it that rule is never broken.

Amber-girl may take exception to that rule someday, for she definitely has a mind of her own and is determined to get her own way.   

After installing the hearth gate across the whole front room, she kept us moving. Next on her hit list was the kitchen table chairs; climb them and run across the table. CHECK.  The kitchen table chairs were moved to the front room behind the hearth gate.

The sectional couch in the back had already been split in two to stop her from using the corner to shimmy her way up.  That solution bought us about two days before she was able to stretch those long legs up high enough and use her upper body strength to climb up any time.  CHECK.  So the Hippie stopped at Bed Bath and Beyond on the way home and bought bed risers for the couch.  The extra five inches might buy us a few months.

She uses open drawers and the dog as stepping stools to reach many a desired treat that should have been out of reach.  She can unscrew caps and open doors.  Frankly, I don't remember ever being in this much trouble this early and my boys were certainly not blobs.

She is, however, quite content most of the time.  She'll happily watch the boys play outside from the inside window.  She'll even sit and watch a few innings of baseball.  She'll play for long periods of time with her puzzle boards and never get frustrated. I adore it when she just sits on the floor with legs straight out and wiggles her feet back and forth.

She loves to go on walks with Daddy and watch the planes fly over head and does her best to sign her enthusiasm. Her favorite game is the clapping game where she taps out the tune and everyone else copies till she stops.

Above all she LOVES her brothers and they love and adore her too! She is not generous with her smiles, she reserves them for her true favorites and all three of her brothers are high on that list.  In fact, "Bro, Bro" is one of her few recognizable words.  I say recognizable because she's quite the babbler we just don't have any idea what she's saying most of the time.  The Hippie says they all start out speaking Klingon.

Mommy has her place too.  I'm her favorite cuddle buddy at night.  Though she stopped nursing two weeks ago, I'm happy to say she still seeks the comfort of mommy at night.  The Hippie and I will be in the same room again soon enough.  I have treasured this period with all my children, the early morning cuddles and talks.  I know how quickly they grow up.  Our little girl is one year old today and already long past the toddler phase.

Mommy, Daddy and your brothers LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.  We pray that you will always walk on the path God has before you and that He will bless you abundantly with health, Godly friends and a beautiful family of your own some day.