Happy Birthday Ella Joy!!!

Ella Joy is one year old. She is 29.5"tall and weighs 23 lbs. She stands and walks with assistance. She loves music and starts dancing and bobbing up and down the moment she hears a beat. She is working on her speech and loves imitating us when we talk, copying intonations with aplomb. She has four teeth and the upper ones are gigantic. She loves to be held. She startles easily and loud noises make her cry. She loves to eat and so far is not allergic to anything. She is slow to warm up to strangers and saves the many colors of her true self for us at home. She adores her brother even though he is so crazy around her sometimes. She has an insatiable appetite for books and her favorite book is "Goodnight Moon." Her lovey is a giraffe named Raffy. She only nurses twice a day now, and is on her way to weaning completely. She loves to eat, anything and everything anyone else is eating. She gets into trouble way quicker than her cautious brother ever did. She has already fallen down the stairs once, off the bed once, and eaten cat food. She loves to pull tissues out of the box one after the other. She loves to stand in the bathroom and unroll toilet paper roll. She will require extensive childproofing.

I have enjoyed this first year of her life more than I can put into words. The second time around is an enormous gift. I wish I could have held on to every moment a little longer, but as children do, Ella changed and grew and blossomed. I couldn't stop her. My little girl is now a toddler.