One year old! Well actually at this point, a year and some change. To say this has been an eventful past few weeks has been an understatement- between your Uncle Will's wedding, your first birthday party, and your first time truly being sick (with roseola-boo!), your mama and daddy have had few minutes to breathe, let alone catch up on long overdue blog posts.
But oh sweet girl, tonight as I rocked you to sleep and looked at your little head on my shoulder, in the dark with your eyes closed, I was transported back to looking at my little newborn. The emotion of it all overtook me, and I couldn't finish the song I was singing to you because I was too choked up.
You see, this past year has been quite the journey. From not knowing what to do with a tiny newborn not gaining weight to seeing your daddy off at the airport for a five month deployment, figuring out how to be your mama without his close-by help and then celebrating his return and adjusting to having him back, it has been an experience like none I had before. And you just took it all in stride.
In your first year, you visited 14 states- South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi (very briefly), Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Not bad to cover 1/4 of the country in your first year! You were the flower girl for each of your uncles in their weddings- one in June and one in September. You cheered on both the Wofford Terrier and Clemson Tiger football teams in person, and they are 1 and 1 in your appearances. You've seen the Atlantic Ocean in four different states and visited the beach in 3 out of 4 seasons- NC and ME in the fall, FL and SC in the winter, and SC in the summer.
Anne Caroline, we have watched you grow in the past six months from a smiling baby to a happy, babbling toddler. You started walking at 11.5 months, right after you started "school." You just wanted to keep up with the bigger kids in your class! you say mama, dada, bye and llama (we think this may have been your official first word- thank you peekaboo barn and the llama, llama books!). We can generally tell what you want by all the pointing you like to do these days.
Your favorite foods are cheese pizza, hummus and pita and yogurt, and you still appreciate the ease of a fruit pouch every now and then. You love playing peekaboo, and your face lights up whenever you're around people, whether you know them or not. You generally sleep from about 8 pm until at least 6:30 am, and your two naps dropped to one once school started. You love your Lula the Leopard lovie.
We had the BEST time at your first birthday party, and you relive it almost every day by watching the video of everyone singing Happy Birthday to you. It is your favorite video, by far! All of your best friends and family came to celebrate you in full jungle style, complete with a snow cone station. Hopefully I'll get around to a full post on your party one day!
We adore you more than we could ever imagine and thank God for making us your parents. We can't wait to continue to watch grow...just not too fast!
Love,
Mama and Daddy
flower girl in Uncle Jeff's wedding, June 2013 (9 mos)
Anne Caroline's first birthday photo shoot
surveying the scenery at her first birthday party
happy, happy
such a fun party
cruising in her birthday present
It's my party and I'l cry if I want to...end-of-the-day meltdown
