Baby Williams: My baby girl turned 1 on February 3rd

Oh, my sweet little girl, I can't believe a year has come and gone already. I love the way you squish your cheek against mine to show me that you love me, and I love that you've done it just the same way from your day of birth until now. You lean in your head and squeeze so tight when we ask you for hugs and you give those same very sweet hugs to your baby and bunny and Juicy too!

You fit right into our family in your own special way. Your screams are a bit too loud sometimes :) but I'm hoping they'll simmer into words as your vocabulary grows. You are saying more and more words every day. You started with Mama, Papa, "ba" for Juicy, hi, baby, bye-bye and now you've added Juni!!!! (you don't say it often, but it is very clear when you do!), thank you, all done, bite (when you want to eat food, because Mama always asks you if you want a bite!), kitty, meow, and a few more words that come out as clear sounds, but I haven't quite figured them out yet.

You still are tall as tall can be. You love standing up all on your own, just in the middle of the room, while you eat a snack, or look around. If you get tired, you squat down for a minute and then stand right back up. You are still cruising around the furniture and now you enjoy walking while holding our fingers, but only when we stand behind you.

You love to play with your sister and to play outside. If we go outside without you, you stand at the door and yell and bang telling us that you want to come out too. And it is pretty much the same with the shower. If Mama or Papa get in the shower without you, and you are distracted by something super fun, you are heartbroken! You cry and squeal at the door with such sadness.

Juni and you are having more fun than ever. She is patient with you and shares most often. She loves to read to you and teach you new things. Even when you pull her hair on accident, she patiently shows you how to be gentle with her. Your favorite toy is your new wooden train you got for your birthday. You also still really love your baby and your bunny.

I'm so excited for this next year as you are able to use your words to tell us more and more things. I'm eager to learn how your baby personality translates into your toddler personality. I have some suspicions and I'm so excited to watch you learn and grow and to see if I am right or not.

It's been a great year, baby girl. Thank you for a being a part of our family. You were just the right puzzle piece to fit right in.

We went to the zoo for Genevieve's birthday, and it was just the right thing to do. The girls had fun, we had fun, and Grandma Susie was here to have fun with us too!

Juni has LOVED giraffe's for quite some time, and she was SO excited to see them at the zoo. We let our membership expire when we lived in Vallejo, so it had been quite a while since we had been. (I was 6 months pregnant when we moved back to Alameda.)