Mallory is One!

Happy Birthday, Mallory!
Today is much less hectic that it was one year ago.  Hectic did not seem to bother you though.  You can into this world calm, cool, and collected.  You checked out everything with your left eye and preferred to keep your right eye closed.  You also loved to be swaddled, but only from the waist down. You preferred to have your hands free so that you could grab and explore anything that came your direction with your tiny, perfect hands.  You loved sleeping with your legs straight up in the air, much like Pearl when she is having a really, really great dream.

To my delight and my dismay you enjoyed doing things a little bit earlier than most children your age.  Please do not be in such a hurry to grow up, sweet babe.  Right now, you enjoy running to everywhere you go.  You've found that running gets you to things you love to do just a little bit quicker.  You also love to explore, especially in the kitchen.  And you love to share.  I love that I can hear the pitter patter of your sweet little feet bringing me a plastic cookie cutter or a whisk after you've been exploring in your drawer in the kitchen.  You are also pretty good about saying please and thank you.  Those are not the exact words that come out of course, but I know what you mean.

You are a friendly, and happy little girl.  You wave and say hi to everyone with a huge grin on your face.  Strangers may not always understand exactly what you are saying but they love to converse with you, Mallory. You also love to give hugs.  My wish is that you will be this friendly, kind and sweet throughout your life.  You are a tenacious worker, Mallory.  You always get back up when you fall down.  You are also one smart cookie.  While you can not say your colors yet, you can pick red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and TCU purple out of any line-up.  You also have no trouble showing me your hair, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.

You are a talented dancer, you understand the beat of music and bounce up and down according to speed. You have surprisingly good balance.  A feat that makes your mom and of course your Aunt Sunny proud.  Your Aunt Amy recently taught you how to jump, well more like bounce, on beds.  You seem to enjoy this new play activity as you must bounce for a few minutes before nap time or bed time. Water is still something you love, rather it is bath time or swimming, you are having a ball. While you do not watch much tv (you would rather be outside exploring), you do seem to enjoy Bubble Guppies, Little Einsteins, and Mickey's Playhouse.

You are a blessing to our family, Mallory and you came along at just the right time.  I can not wait to see what this next year brings, and find out the ways that you will bless and enrich the lives of everyone around you.  Keep smiling baby girl.