Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Brand New

1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months
5 months
6 months
7 months
8 months
9 months
10 months
11 months
12 months

I honestly cannot believe that it has been a whole year since I was at the hospital anticipating the arrival of our little girl. I was so worried that she would be ugly (every mother's fear) and was so relieved when she was just gorgeous from the beginning. Our lives have been so full and fun with Hallie, every day is a new adventure. She is the greatest joy in our lives and we are thankful every day that we were blessed to have her.

Here are a few things about our 1 year old:

• She claps like a pro
• She sticks out her tongue frequently, on command and otherwise
• She knows where her nose is, but will only point to other people's noses, not her own
• she folds her arms all the time (see above picture). She knows to do it when we pray, but also does it frequently otherwise, like after every other bite when she eats. What can we say, she maintains a level of spirituality that none of us have gotten to yet!
• she loves to talk and jibber. She uses her tongue to do so a lot and it is really funny.
• she leads music when it comes on and especially at church
• she also sings with the music on ocassion, when she really likes the song
• she loves to jump up and down when someone is holding her or when she is standing on the couch
• she walks and runs with help although she does not yet walk on her own. She walks around furniture and walls.
• she crawls up and down the stairs
• she tries to walk down the stairs. Now, someone explain to me why she will not attempt to walk on her own without prodding, but she will always, without fail, crawl up the stairs and then stand up and start to try walking down? Let's master regular, even floor walking first, eh?
• uses a comb or a brush to comb her hair
• loves to help brush her teeth
• absolutely LOVES being the center of attention and has the system down
• "flirts" with men of all ages, including a middle aged man last week in my sister's ward. She does this by peeking at them and then acting shy and giving them a small smile and then repeating the process. Its funny that she can identify boys and men to do this with because she never does it with women.
• loves to be chased, she thinks it is the funnest game
• does the actions to patty cake
• pulls out her hair daily after mom has done her best to make it look cute
• tries to put her own shoes on
• her favorite toys are books and stuffed animals
• keeps the beat to music by bobbing her head
• "talks" on the phone or anything else that has buttons, such as a remote. Her conversations usually go, blah blah blah, pause. Laugh laugh laugh. Repeat. She must have learned that from somewhere?
• favorite foods are bananas, tomatoes, and sweets.
• least favorite food is potatoes. Still one of the only things she simply will not eat.
• She loves water. She splashes through bathtime every night and the best treat for her is to go swimming.

Simply said, we just love our Hallie girl! Happy birthday baby!!!!!