The Gutshall Tell-All: The Birthday Girl

In some ways, this year seems to have flown by and I can't believe my baby is already 1. In other ways, this year dragged on. I have to admit that going from 1 to 2 children was far harder for me than from going from 0 to 1. But, I think that had a lot to do with the milk protein allergy and the 9.5 month sleep deprivation. Those topics deserve a whole blog post in and of themselves, so I won't go into that here.

BUT we have made it! The first year is over and we are loving the stage that Lyla is in right now. We are into the rapid learning phase. She is active and curious and daring, yet still loves momma and cuddling. She will venture off and play by herself for a few minutes and then she will come right back to momma and want me to hold her for 5 seconds and then she will go off again. She wants to be independent sometimes, but isn't quite there yet :)

Here is a little bit about our girl:
-Smiley and flirty. She likes to act shy, burying her face into my shoulder when people give her attention. But truly, she loves attention :)
-Petite... she is still long and skinny and has a little head. I sometimes get comments about how she must be an early walker, but I think it's because she is bald and little, so she looks younger.
-She could walk from me to you at 10.5 mos, but it wasn't until 11 mos that she walked more than she crawled.
-7 teeth.
-She says: dada (first word), mama, bubba, dog, bye-bye, book, elephant noise (with action), and dog noise. But I think she may be less of a talker than brother was. She won't speak on command (unlike Emerson) and you have to listen closely to hear her say her words. Even though she has a good set of lungs on her, I think her personality might be less talkative... we'll see.
-Her favorite activities are... being carried by mommy everywhere, BOOKS, playing outside, sliding, cuddling, building towers. I think she is mostly into gross motor activities right now.
-Oh, and she loves meat, eggs, and fruit. The girl is a bottomless pit ever since we got back from Colorado.
-She still nurses 3 times a day. I think we will drop the daytime one in the next week, so I'm thinking she will be fully weaned around 13 mos, which is when Emerson was also.
-She is silly sometimes and I actually think she has a pretty good sense of humor, and even thinks some things are funny that adults actually think are funny, too. I like it :)

A Ham.

Lyla,
While we have had some rough patches this last year, we have also had some really high highs. I love you with all that I am and I am so grateful that God gave us you. I pray that you grow to become the lady that God designed you to be. And that you will be a joy, blessing, and light of Christ for the world around you. I pray that you see others through His eyes and love and serve others the way Christ did. You are a special girl and my heart swells with love for you.

Love,
momma