Juliet is One!

Little Newborn

I am having a hard time digesting the fact that my baby isn't really a baby anymore.  She walks, she eats real food, she even tries to talk!  We kept the celebrating small this year.  I am having some major mom-guilt over this, because we threw London a big party for her first birthday.  It was just too hard to do that this year because we don't really have many friends, let alone friends with kiddos around Juliet's age.  And honestly her birthday kind of snuck up on me with Halloween so close.  I started planning out themes and stuff in August and then the next time I thought about it, it was half way through October and it was simply too late! Maybe next year she will have the awesome tea party themed birthday I had been dreaming of. ;)

Anyways enough with the excuses, and on to this precious little one of mine!  Juliet's favorite thing to do is EAT.  In fact, she still has her little baby thunder thighs and chubby cheeks.  I am kind of in love with them and her squishy little self.  She will try anything, especially if someone else is eating it.  She has been known to try and grab things out of your hand mid-bite.  If she hears the rustle of a wrapper or the clanking of a utensil, she is THERE, man!!  I have yet to find a food she doesn't like.  The downside of this is she is still very messy (like most one-year olds).  I need to invest in a floor mat or something because I am tired of scraping solidified bananas and tomatoes off our floor.  (I got into the motherhood business because of the constant glamor.)

Birthday Pancakes.

She also idolizes her sister.  She always wants to be playing with her, hugging on her, following her lead into mischief.  They are the greatest.  I hope they get along this well when they're teenagers (but I kind of doubt it...)  Of course they have the occasional fight, and sometimes London pushes her around, but for the most part they love having each other.  Which makes my heart happy.  Juliet has even tried to say London's name once!  I had put London down for a nap and closed the door to her room.  Juliet crawled over to the door, pulled herself up and started crying something that sounded awfully close to her sister's name.  It made me teary-eyed!  But she hasn't tried again since then and it has been almost a month, so maybe it was a fluke or my own imagination.

Thanks for the chairs, Great-Grandma Vacc!!

Juliet is a snuggler.  When you pick her up, she burrows down in between your shoulder and neck.  She still needs to be snuggled to fall asleep (I have a love/hate relationship with this fact).  When she wakes up from her nap, she is perfectly happy to cuddle with me while we wait for her sister to wake up.

Her hair is thick, just like her sisters.  And it looks like it is going to have a bit of wave, just like her sisters.  She has (almost) six teeth.  It feels like they are taking forever to come in, considering London had a full set at this point.  I love her little smile with her two big front teeth sticking out.  Combine that with the baby pig tails and she is the poster child for cuteness.  (Although I am obviously very biased when it comes to this fact). 


She loves to dance.  Any time there is any kind of music you can count on both my girls to start rocking out.  So we tend to have lots of little impromptu dance parties.  It's the greatest thing ever.  I also have loved watching her learn to play; she has started pretending to talk on the phone, she hugs every doll and stuffed animal she can get a hold of, and as I was writing this, I watched her take a doll comb and run it through her own hair a few times.  I think it helps she has a big sister who shows her the way on a lot of these things.

Most of that cupcake ended up smeared on my table.

 I am worried her first word is going to be "no."  She loves to imitate that word.  (It gets said a lot around here by our resident two-year-old.)  I try not to laugh when she says it, but she looks and sounds exactly like London when she does! I need to film her saying it.  It seems so silly to see and hear that kind of negativity coming out of such a little person.  Especially since she usually bursts into her big, two-tooth grin right after she does it. Punk.

I just love this sweet little girl of mine.  Motherhood seemed like it became so much harder after number 2, but also so much sweeter.  "The days are long, but the years are short," rings truer to me when I look back and think it was only a year ago I was bringing this precious babe home.  It's hard to remember life without her, but she still seems so new.  I'm so grateful that I am lucky enough to be her mother; to nurture her and teach her as she grows into the wonderful, beautiful human being I know she is destined to become.  Hurray for one whole year, and here's to the many more to come!