FIRST Birthday

Sweet baby girl turned one on the first day of November! We had the fam down for a party: lasagna dinner, cake & ice cream, and presents. I've actually been quite sad about the fact that she is one now, because I know she's my last baby, and I don't like how fast this past year has gone by. Everyday I cherish her sweetness, soft squishy cheeks and her cuddles, and even though it's exciting to see her grow and learn, I'm really not looking forward to the terrible two's that are lurking just around the corner.

Speaking of growing and learning, here's what she's doing right now:

She can wave and say, "Hi," and "Bye," or when she answers the pretend phone. She says Mom clear as day and also Ruger. Other words she can say: da (Dad), hot, eye. She says, "Aaaa" for Austin. I've also been surprised at how much she understands. She will answer most questions with either a nod of the head: yes or no. She can clap, play hide and go seek, and is very cute when she tries to copy what you're doing. She took her first steps at her birthday party. It was so fun! As of just the last couple of days she's figuring out that she can really get around by walking, although it's still a mix of walking and crawling. She LOVES her food. She yells, "Ooooooh!" when she sees food she wants, and she can down a whole piece of pizza herself. She loves music. I will often look in the rear view mirror of the car and see her boppin' to the music. It's just about the cutest thing you've ever seen. She also loves baby dolls. Anne Elyse didn't really pay much attention to them until she was 2 or so, but Tori will pick up the dolls and love them and give them a pat on the back.

She weighs just about 20 lbs. I can't remember her length, but she was 50th percentile for both height and weight at the Dr. the other week. She is definitely longer than Anne Elyse was and will probably be quite a bit taller than her sister when they are grown.

Her hair is also quite a bit lighter than Anne Elyse's was. She has some curls in the back, and it's finally long enough to do two little pig tails, but still not enough on top to do a hair clip.

She has one lone tooth on the top - her one front tooth...no other teeth.

She brings me so much joy everyday. I'm not the only one that spoils her either. :) Since there is such an age gap between the oldest 3 and her, I can definitely see she has become the "baby" of the family, and it will probably be that way the rest of her life. Nothing wrong with that, right?