Happy 1st Birthday Leila!

Is anyone else completely shocked that it has been a year already? The day was really low-key because her actual family birthday party isn't until the 21st. Have I mentioned that it kinda sucks to have her birthday, our anniversary and Father's Day all the same week!? I shoulda planned this better....

We celebrated with an early morning photo shoot thanks to Jared and a pancake breakfast. The best part is she even ATE some of the pancakes. Win!

Yowza. I don't know where my kids learned this cheesy face!

Pancakes and blueberries, a birthday-girl's dream!

 Christian, being the big brother he is, even "helped" open her gift. He was pretty bummed we didn't put candles in her pancakes so he could blow them out. :)

Yay! Sippy cups!

Why yes, that is a pancake stuck to her lip

At age 1 Leila can clap, say Mama and Dada, dance, and is crawling like a mad woman. She likes to hold our fingers to cruise around, but probably won't walk for a couple more months. She is getting more confident and cruising around the furniture a little bit. I can now (FINALLY!) say that she is not exclusively breast fed. She doesn't love to eat, but is pretty good about eating a few bites of rice cereal or veggies a few times a day and we finally found a little veggie snack she actually gets excited about. She loves water and can drink from a straw which made me really excited. Leila can still sneeze on command, and makes the funniest cheesy face that brings a whole new meaning to the term "Ugly-Pretty" (see the photo shoot above if you don't know what I mean!). She loves to talk and babble and gets really excited when she hears any music. She also loves books and gets really excited when I read to her. Her favorite song is the theme song to "3rd Rock From the Sun". :) She loves her older brother and thinks he is hilarious...especially when he says the word "poop" (smh). At this point she still has a dairy allergy, but I am hoping she will grow out of it. . She has 12 teeth that have broken through with 2 more almost through and I think it is annoying and hilarious at the same time that someone with so many teeth refuses to use them! All in all she is healthy, happy and an absolute joy

Happy 1st Birthday, Leila! You are beautiful inside and out. I love your quick smile. I love your bright eyes. I love how you light up when you see me. I love that you are already a huge flirt, even though it will bring me trouble later! I love your deep husky voice and that you finally learned to growl. I love that you dance and clap your hands every time you hear music. I love that you take your time and are more cautious. I love (and hate!) that you do things at your own pace and refused to be rushed. You are strong and beautiful and I can't wait to see what the new year brings!