Month 12, aka Her First Birthday

So. Here we are. THE day. My Piper, my last baby, turns 1. It's just so hard to believe that a year has passed since we were up and getting ready to head to the hospital for the c-section so we could see our Piper. This day, a year ago, is much different than today, but boy are we glad we walked through it.


Remember this? This was taken when my boy was just 3 (he seems so little here) and we were packing up to go home. Caleb loves his sister and they have, over the last year, reached a very comfortable point in their relationship. If Piper is grumpy and fussy, she will stop as soon as Caleb comes to her. All he has to do is talk to her and she smiles her sweet smile.
Caleb is also the one person who ilicits the most giggles from Piper. It seems that anything he does, she finds funny and amusing. It is very sweet to hear the laughs coming from the other room.

We have been told many, many times that Piper is just a sweet, happy, easy baby and nothing could be more true. This past week, Piper had her first experience at VBS and I was told, not only by her teachers, but also other teachers who happened to just see her that she was the only baby not crying or fussing about anything. She is just so content, well until she is hungry, but really who isn't upset when they are hungry. Piper loves to be on the go and while returning home is a joy for her, being out in public and looking at everything is her true joy. We have learned that we have to leave the house everyday so that Piper can get her fill. It seems that I have given birth to two kids who like to be out and about alot. No complaints here!

Piper started crawling last month, but she really perfected her skill this past one. During month 11, she would crawl on her hands and knees, but would revert back to her army crawl when she wanted to get somewhere fast. During the last 30 days, however, she has since decided that all 4 is the way to go and can go fast now. Sometimes, faster than I would like... I spend most of my days chasing her around, pulling things out of her mouth. Piper has the ability to spot the most minute speck on the floor and will promptly try to eat it. I know she'll stop doing this at some point, but until then we will battle over this little "habit" of hers!

Piper is also so close to walking. She will pull up on everything and will let go at times. She will stand there for just a second and then promptly falls on her backside. It's very cute, but she gets a little frustrated at times!

I can already tell that Piper is going to be my craftsy girl, thank goodness. I couldn't, and still can't, get Caleb to participate in crafts or art projects to save my life, so I was hoping that Piper would be the one. She seems to have taken an interest in coloring and drawing a lot younger than seems normal, well at least normal in our house. Here is a picture (of course) of Piper drawing for the first time.

This past Saturday, we had Piper's birthday party. This was nothing like Caleb's first birthday party, in that we just had a small, low key affair at my parent's house with just family. It really was so much fun and I would do it again this way, should I have the opportunity. A dear friend of mine made the tutu for Piper and she had to wear it. It's just precious, isn't it?

As you can see, we had so much fun with Piper and she had so much fun eating cake (well, icing really). Here she is just as the sugar rush started. I would almost (ALMOST!) like to give her more cake just to see this silly face again. However, the crash afterward is just not worth it!

Piper has always been very curious, but this past month she has earnestly started pointing at everything, wanting to know names of nearly every object she sees, whether she's seen it before or not. We are happy to oblige!

We have had such fun with Piper this past year and I really could never imagine how much joy she has brought to our lives. It was a difficult adjustment that was at times unbearably hard and unspeakably joyful all at the same time. However, we would do it again in a moment's notice. God knew exactly what he was doing by giving us Piper, a sweet, silly, pretty, prissy (at times), laid-back, baby girl who has completed our family and us.

Happy birthday baby girl! Your Mama and Daddy love you more that you (and we) could ever imagine. We can't wait to see all the exciting things that you will accomplish and fun we will have over the next years.