1 Year!

I can't believe I'm posting Ayla's one-year entry. Oh, how our lives have changed since she became a part of our world twelve months ago. She's grown from a helpless, squeaky little newborn to a happy, vibrant, sweet, and funny little girl. It's been a year and sometimes I still can't believe she's all mine. I have loved every minute of every good day, bad day, and everything in between. Yes, there are days where I count down to bedtime, and yes, my patience has been tested countless times, but the wonderfully amazing moments stomp out the frustrating ones. She is the best thing that has ever happened to us and I am so excited to see her grow. **I didn't have time to take her usual monthly birthday pictures today, so I'll be taking them tomorrow instead.**

Here is the latest on our little girl:

• As of today, I think we can say she's officially walking!
  
• She is extremely determined...and quite stubborn...when she has her mind set on something, there's no changing it (maaaaybe she got that from me?).


• She LOVES Elmo...she spots him everywhere we go.


• She's obsessed with shoes. She grabs them and holds them out to me and sticks her foot in the air so I can put them on for her.


• She's still a picky eater...she likes string cheese, grilled cheese, cottage cheese, sliced cheese, mac n cheese...you get the picture. Cheese continues to be the only thing she's guaranteed to eat. It seems like every other day, she loves raspberries...but definitely not every day. Weird.


• She loves to be outside...I'm not sure what I'm going to do once it starts to get really cold.


• She likes to swing...Yeh-Yeh pushes her on a baby swing just about every day. First she'll ask him to pick her up, then she points to the backdoor, and then she points to his shoes for him to put on.


• She dances (bops her head, bounces, and swings her arms back and forth) to anything that has a beat.


• She knows where her nose, belly, hair, and feet are...we're currently working on eyes and mouth.


• She gives big, open-mouthed, slobbery kisses.


• Her vocabulary continues to build...I don't know if all of these words count since we're probably the only ones who can understand a lot of them, but they're her way of saying things and she knows what she means--Mama, Daddy, hi, bye, no, uh-oh, shoe, nigh-nigh (night-night), Dee (Kody), baw (ball), Mo-mo (Elmo), pree (pretty), boo (book), pi-ee (piggy), duh-ee (ducky), muh-ee (monkey); and in Chinese--din (light), mo (no more/all gone), bow-bow (pick me up). Every now and then she'll say Nai-Nai (grandma) and Yeh-Yeh (grandpa).


• Since she has learned how to say 'pick me up' in Chinese, she says it...All. The. Time. It's cute, yes, especially when I feel a little tug on my pant leg while she says it but often times, she says it at the most inopportune moments...like when I'm peeing.


• She sleeps for 11 to 12 hours at night...give or take a half an hour. She's been going to bed around 7:30 and sleeps until about 7:30 the next morning...not bad at all. I remember a time when I thought this would never happen.


• She is officially down to one nap. And not only is it just one nap, it's one short nap. It's been less than an hour...if we're really lucky, the most she'll sleep is about an hour and ten minutes.


• She still hates getting her diaper changed. I do everything short of standing on my head to distract her. I don't understand why she hates it so much.


• She's a total mama's-girl when she's tired.

Things that I have learned throughout this first year:

• Sleep is not that important.
  
• Babies don't care if you're hungover.


• 7:45 a.m. is considered sleeping in.


• 7:45 p.m. is considered getting late.


• It takes twenty minutes to get out of the house.
  
• A slice of cheese, five peanuts, and a piece of gum is considered dinner for me when there's just not enough time to make anything.


• Getting poo'd on, peed on, puked on, drooled on, or sneezed on is okay and not that gross.


• Carrying a purse the size of Montana is the way to go.


• Having 87 Cheerios floating around in the backseat of the car at any given time is perfectly normal.


• Eating an entire meal in six minutes flat can be done.


• Driving with such precious cargo makes me a very careful driver.


• Everything I do, I think about Ayla first.


• Being a mom is exactly what I am meant to do. I had no idea how much I would love it and how amazing it would feel to have this little person to love and to take care of.

I love her so, so, so much and hope that she grows up knowing, feeling, and understanding that.

Happy FIRST Birthday, Miss Ayla Ming! Thank you for bringing so much joy, fun, love, and amazement into our lives. Love you...