OnE

One

 *Our girl turned 1 on Nov 1.
*I can barely believe it. I think I am in denial actually.
*Penny is at such a cute and fun stage right now.  
*I am just loving every minute with her!
*Her first word is "Hi" and says it whenever she sees someone including the cat and dog.  And she not only says it with the sweetest little voice, but does so while giving you the biggest grin and waving her pudgy little fingers.
* I am a little late on writing this, I just couldn't bring myself to do it :)  But on November 15th, she actually crawled on all fours.  She has been doing the "army crawl" for the longest time.  She has gotten up on her knees and rocked back and forth but wouldn't take that first "crawl" until now.  And by the time I actually got around to posting this, she is crawling now more then doing the "army crawl".  But her favorite of mode of transportation is walking everywhere.  She has not taken any independent steps but loves for you to hold her hands and cruise the house.
*On 11/15 decided it was time to make the long crawl up the stairs!  Last week she made it up the first step but was hesitant to go any further.  I think Tommy coaching her from the top of the stairs and me holding onto her from the back of her shirt, gave her the incentive to make journey.  She was so proud of herself and so were Tommy and I!  We have entered a whole new era of baby proofing around here!
*At 11 months I weaned her from nursing and in a rather short period of time but she did great! I think it helped greatly that only Daddy fed her for about 2 weeks or so.  But now I am back to giving her bottles and enjoying our snuggles.  I truly miss nursing her, but I know that we had such a good run.  Nursing Penny was never complicated or difficult.  It came so naturally and I never worried about whether she was eating enough or not.  I fed her on demand for 11 months and truly enjoyed that time I spent with her.  It was a wonderful experience and I feel so blessed to have been able to do that for her as nursing has never been that effortless for me before!
*Penny loves to read books and her favorite lovie is a small teddy bear that we call Ted.
*She is still infatuated with her brothers and loves to play with them. Now that she is bigger they hold her under her arms and try to walk her around (with supervision!) and she loves to wrestle with them.
* The funniest thing about Penny is how "girlie" she already is.  The boys could care less about what they wear, but Penny gets all excited when I show her what she is wearing for the day.  She LOVES headbands and bows.  My Aunt sent her a pink shirt for her birthday and immediately after opening it, Penny put it on her head (she was trying to put it on) and had a huge smile, like "look at me and my pretty shirt".  She also loves shoes...I have a feeling we are really going to be in for it!
*She is eating really well and is far less picky then she was.  She still takes a bottle before both naps (I think in the next month or so she will be down to one nap, by 13 months she is pretty much down to one nap), before bed and usually wakes up again 2 times before morning, 7:30am.  She is also sleeping better with stretches of 5-6 hours.  Trent and I now share night duty so that I can catch up on a little sleep.  He is such a wonderful Daddy and has taken such good care of her and all the kiddos!

As of 13 months she is babbling a lot and actually trying to put words together.  She says Dada, Mom, Ni Ni (night, night), Nissss (nice), she grunts and tries to bark like a dog. She blows kisses, waves high, gives big hugs to Mama and loves to give nosies and butterfly kisses.


Dear Sweet Penny,
   I can't believe it has been a year since we were blessed to see your sweet face for the first time.  I knew immediately that you and I would be the bestest of friends and that God had graced us with your presence.  You are truly a gift and I thank God every.single.day for your precious life.  Daddy and I love you so very much.  We have vowed to stand beside you and support you, to always be there for you!  There is nothing more important to us then you and your sweet brothers.  You bring such a tenderness to our home and can settle even your wild boys with your adorable smile and laugh.  You are our answered prayer and we love you dearly.


Forever and Always!
Love,
Daddy and Mommy