Dear Ella,
Your first year so far had been busy, that is a given seeing as you have two other siblings and a Daddy who is gone half the time. Through all this you have been a joy, and you just keep smiling, although you give a mean grumpy face too. You have been pulling yourself up on furniture for almost a month now and love walking around with our help. I'm guessing that you will never crawl, you scouch just fine and your stomach is still not a place you like to be.
This past month was the first time we left you over night and I was told you were a super star. I believe it because other then not sleeping in your crib I really have no complaints. You eat everything and anything and you've slept through the night since you were 3 months. You are happy as long as your stomach is full and your diaper is empty. You are not on a schedule when it comes to naps, they are hit or miss, you have at least one daily, but there is no routine set up, bed time is always around 8 ish where you will fall asleep in your crib most nights, then you wake up some time between 11 to 1 and cuddle in nicely beside me falling asleep till the morning. If you fall asleep in our bed you are out out out, waking for nothing, but a bottle in the morning. I have just decided that you are a co-sleeper and that is that and life will work out around it.
As of today I am a stay at home mom, this is really cool. I have been very lucky in the fact that with my job. I was able to stay home, but the stress of it all was getting to me. I have been one of the luckiest mom's of all however in that you and your brother and sister are some of the best kids EVER, you all keep me on my toes and fill my days with laughter.
Ella you amaze me every day. You spend most of your time trailing along behind your siblings or get right in the action. You are so into everything that they are doing and as much as they are looking forward to school I think you might be a little lonely once they go. They have taught you so much, you have refused mushy baby food for months now and will not be fed by some one else easily, you want to use regular cups, play with big kid toys, be free to roam the house and are working on some great pieces of art.
There is so much I would like to remember about you at this age, but I know from experience that my memory will all fade, the sparkle in your eyes when you see me, the way you grab my face and plant a huge kiss on my cheek shaking with the intensity of it, the way you eat your food with an over handed pincer grab and most of all how you rule this house so effortlessly. We have all succumb to your cute smile and pudgy cheeks.
Love Mommy
