A First

One year ago, this little gal joined our family. She stole our hearts, wrapped them around her little pinky finger, and I don't think we'll ever get them back.

She wasn't the most pleasant of babies to be around for the first few months, what with all the screaming, and crying, and...well, SCREAMING. I couldn't take a 5-minute drive without her screaming her head off. And those 40-minute drives to town? I've got to give her credit, because most babies would try to scream, but would fall asleep of exhaustion after 15-20 minutes. Not Marie. She screamed the entire way. My neighbor would give me looks of pity as I pulled into the driveway with a red-faced, hysterical infant. It was bad.


However, some magic fairy dust must have blown my way, because at 5 months a switch was flipped and she became mellow and easy to please. There was a certain peace about her; she was such a joy to be around.

• Feisty: adj. quick-tempered
  

• Spunky: adj. spirited
  

Well, I think the switch has been flipped back, because this girl is ferocious. Don't get me wrong, she's as cute as can be, and still a fairly happy baby. But she's become independent. She knows what she wants, and she wants it now. Just try telling her she can't have another M&M out of the candy dish and see what happens. I dare you.



She's also a climber. I never had to worry about this with Kyle. I swear he just learned how to climb last year! Okay, maybe an exaggeration, but I've never had to worry about Kyle's safety. He's very cautious. Not this spunky thing. She's given me many heart attacks already.



She rules the roost, and we let her. Because as much as Kevin & I love her, I think that Kyle does even more. He plays with her, and carries her. He lets her play in his bedroom. He holds her hand in the car. It's adorable. Don't get me wrong - he gets annoyed with her sometimes. He's been known to chuck her binkie across the room, in hopes that she'll chase after it and leave him alone. But he adores her.


And it was so important to him that we celebrate her birthday in style. He wanted streamers, so we did streamers. He even hung a few on her crib. We had balloons. She had her own cake, with a "1" candle (note to self: please remember to buy him a "6" candle in August!). And he decided to wrap up some of his old toys to pass on to her - even his precious blue ball.


The presents? A definite hit. The unsurprising favorite was her first baby doll. She's always hugging and smothering stuffed animals, so we knew she'd love it. But the surprising favorite gifts were the clothes! She LOVED them. She grabbed them, pull them to her, and hug them. If I dared take them away, she yell and grab them right back. I think I have a shopping buddy in my future.

The cake? Not quite such a hit. Oh, she loved the candle flame, but once we quickly blew that out and took it away, she didn't want much to do with her cake. She picked at the frosting and proceeded to cry. Very reminiscent of her big brother's birthday. Maybe we'll skip the cake with the next child.

All in all, such a great day. We're so lucky to have this little lady in our family. She brings us so much joy that we didn't even know we were missing.

Happy 1st Birthday, Marie!