Happy Birthday, Madeleine!

Oh, Miss Madeleine, how are you already a whole year old???

For now, let's just focus on what you've done over the last month:

You're still in a size 3 diaper, but I think we're down to the last box of those before moving up to 4's. You wear 12-month clothes pretty regularly, but in some brands you need to go up to 12-18 months. I have no idea what you weigh, but I would guess around 20lbs.

You get to ride facing forward in the car! You hate the car, but being turned around has helped a bit. We usually have to distract you with nilla wafers or goldfish while you're riding.

You are a walker! You can go pretty good distances on only your feet, but if you want to get somewhere fast, you still prefer your super-sonic crawling.

You are a talker! You've been trying out lots of words lately: water, book, Aunt Jamey, Jack (Honey and H's dog), good dog, and kitty have all been popping up lately. And you love to sing along in your own little way to songs on the radio.

You have SEVEN teeth!

You have developed quite a personality over the last month: you discovered you had a temper. Or, at least, the rest of us discovered you had a temper, and you figured out how to show us. You are a little hot-head when things aren't going your way, or when Big Sister gets something that you don't. You even tried to bite Claire the other day, which was absolutely hilarious. I know we won't think that behavior is funny if you start doing it regularly, but that very first time surprised everybody.

You still love to eat! You know what you want, too, so now we just open the fridge or the pantry and you point to what you'd like. You're willing to try anything, and the only things you don't seem to like are ground beef or salmon. You discovered yesterday, thanks to Big Sister, that Oreos and Sonic tater tots are pretty darn tasty.

You are able to give kisses and hugs, and they are wonderful!

You're starting to understand basic directions, like putting toys away. But getting toys out is still much more fun.

Happy, happy birthday sweet Madeleine Moo! We love you!