Adeline is 12 months old! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

Adeline,

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

 Look at you!  12 months old!  I simply cannot believe how fast this year has flown by.  Every ounce of my mind floats back to Tuesday, March 21, 2011 when I was preparing for you - the most incredible moment of my life.  I replay the minutes leading up to your arrival almost daily and every time, I can feel the rush of that joyful day.  I was a bundle of emotion, but mostly so anxious to meet you.  Carrying you was truly a gift.  How I prayed so hard and so long for you.  And to celebrate every one of your kicks, every hick up at 8pm sharp, every visit with you on the ultrasound, every second of knowing YOU were there....well, YOU are nothing but a miracle to me.

Adeline, YOU are the delight of my heart.
And oh baby girl, you are a ray of sunshine to our family!   We adore your smile, your husky belly laugh, your admiration for William, your love for baby dolls.  How you love your Daddy too!  Every evening after your bath, we come downstairs and you start shouting "DADA! DADA!" and lean in towards the front door.  You know he's on his way home and your face simply beams.
Your vocabulary has taken off this month.  Your distinct words include:  baby, "illam" for William, down (and you fall down on the ground with a laugh), cock-a-doodle-doo (your favorite animal book), caw-caw (bird sound), book, bye, bye-bye, shoes, hi and hello.
You also have some words that we've only heard once or twice:  ribbit, read, boo, and ball.
You LOVE to read books.  LOVE IT.  You have three "go to" favorites that Dada and I have probably read a million times.  You can't get enough of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Cock-a-doodle-doo, and Where's Spot?  I am SO thrilled that you love books and will sit on our laps from cover to cover.  William and I would read for hours on the couch, and I am hoping that you'll be the same way.  There are so many wonderful stories for us to discover.
You are walking all over the place too.  Sometimes I take you to the park and let you walk in the wide open spaces.  You love this and hate it when I pick you up and put you back in the car.  You love the wind in your face and laugh a funny chuckle as you toddle around trying to keep your balance.  You love your shoes and when it is time to get dressed, you like to bring them over to me.  When you take your shoes off, you walk over to the stairs and throw them behind the baby gate which is where I keep my shoes and William's shoes.
Adeline, you are SO HAPPY!  You love to laugh and find joy in the smallest things.  Watching William is your favorite past time and you get such a kick out of his every move.  Sometimes he's so goofy that you scream with excitement and clap your hands really fast.
 People stop me all the time to comment on your cuteness and your thick head of hair.  You weigh 23 lbs, wear a size 6 diaper and a size 12-18m clothes.  You wear a size 5 shoe.  Your hair gets thicker every day and you are getting very good at keeping your hair bow intact. 

I think you are trying to drop your morning nap and that's ok with me.  Lately, you've been going to bed at 7/7:30pm and sleeping until 6am.  We might give you a drink of milk and then you'll go back to sleep until 7am or so.  I have been putting you down for a nap around 12 or 12:30 and you're napping for almost 2 hours. 
You don't seem to mind the taste of whole milk, but I have noticed you will drink more milk if I give you 1%.  I still give you formula before bed and we'll work on slowly removing that bottle as time goes on.  You love to eat and try new foods - so thankful for that!
Oh my sweet little lady - I want you to always know how much we love you.  It's a love that cannot be explained.  But Dada and I feel it.  It's a love that makes my heart ache and makes me fall to my knees in thankfulness for you. Adeline, we treasure every second of your life, every joyful noise, every endearing bit of your personality.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO YOU, BABY GIRL!