Emma Lynn: One Year

Dear Emma:

I can't believe you are a year old now. That doesn't even seem possible. This past year has completely flown by and here we are celebrating your birthday. You have changed so much and this has been such an amazing year with you.

The biggest thing this last month is that you took three steps. You are so close to walking and we are so excited for you. You have been moving around furniture for awhile now and you stand alone very solid. For a long time you have been testing out taking a single step. You also have been pushing around toys but you finally are starting to take those forward steps. I have no doubt that you will be walking in no time. You are just so close.

A few days before you turned one, we run out of formula. We decided we weren't going to buy more so we officially switched you over to milk. I was so excited for you to be done with formula but also very sad because that meant you weren't my baby anymore. You have taken to the milk like a pro. You just won't hold your own cup because you like us to do it for you. Hopefully you'll get there soon, lazy girl.

As a whole you are actually a great eater. We always laugh that you are a better eater than your big brother. You eat everything we eat for dinner just usually deconstructed. For breakfast you eat a combo of what your siblings eat then lunch you usually have turkey, crackers, cheese and either peaches or pears. You just sit and eat like a pro. Your new favorite thing is the yogurt we give you before bed. Now that you don't have formula we do a yogurt snack before bedtime to make sure you can make it through the night and so far you have continued to sleep through the night no problem.

You continue to be my easy, happy girl. I guess maybe that's part of being the third kid, but you just go with the flow and hang in with you have to. I just love how chill you are as a whole. However this last week leading up to your birthday was a little rough. You got a little cold then you had a tooth cutting through, so you just weren't feeling good. You were grumpy and wanted constant attention. You really hate when I try to do anything else really at all. But you were more vocal about it when you weren't feeling good. Luckily the tooth finally cut through and you started feeling a bit better, and more importantly started sleeping better.

You are into more toys these days and like what you like. For example you adore Addison's brush. There was one day you were so upset and just wanted to carry it around all day including to naptime. You just like what you like. Lately you have been into dancing. Your favorite song is Taylor Swift's The Man. Every single time you hear that song you immediately start dancing. Usually you aren't into whatever is on TV much unless whatever we are watching has music. You definitely don't just sit and watch a movie or show though.

You are such an amazing little girl. I still can't believe you are a year old. It seems like you were just born and we were sleep-deprived and trying to figure out how to make parenting three all work. Although we are still trying to figure out that all the time, you aren't a little baby anymore. You have a strong personality. You are trying to keep up with your brother and sister. You are happy and beautiful. You are just too amazing for words. I love you so much.

Love, Mama