This had been a hard year for me and for our family. Violet was tongue tied and the first few weeks of her life were just agonisingly painful for me. It has been a year now though and I have made it. I breastfed her successfully and now she is a happy, healthy, robust one year old and an absolute delight. (Not just because of breastfeeding obviously but it feels like a success story despite many obstacles and and I want to celebrate the accomplishment!)
Violet is the most pleasant and happy, smiley baby I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She is almost always happy. She always has a ready smile and will laugh and giggle without much effort on my part at all. She gives kisses willingly and often, especially to Vivian! She is a go-getter and so determined. She will just work and work at something until she gets it. For example, if she sees a toy but can't reach it she will just keep going for it until she gets to it. She rarely complains. If she gets frustrated she may squawk and take a little break but she usually just gets back in there and ends up getting it!
She does not mind making herself heard though. Especially at meals. She will sit in her high chair and just shout, much to Vivian's chagrin. We are working on sign language but it hasn't quite caught on yet.
We haven't quite gotten the nighttime sleep thing figured out yet (which is why I am awake). I just stopped feeding her at night last night. It has been a difficult year for us with all of the change so we may have gotten in some bad habits purely in the name of survival. She is adaptable though and she has already made great progress, sleeping much more than she did last week even!
I am proud of her beyond what I can express. She is a delightful child and I am so lucky to be her mama. I hope and pray that I can be a good mama to her and teach her how to be a strong, loving, kind, generous, compassionate, independent, confident girl as she grows up!
Happy First Birthdayy sweet smiley Peetie!
