ONE YEAR OLD!

Miss Lacey Elizabeth is one year old! As of about a month ago or so she all of sudden let herself be known! Lacey is SO much like her brother! There is a good chance we have been blessed with a second strong willed child. Lord help us! Lacey loves to cuddle and be held and wants to be held all the time, mostly because she insists on seeing or being involved in whatever we are doing. She has an adorable smile and does smile often. She strongly voices what she wants and she wants it right away. She has begun to resist her brother's efforts to take what she considers hers at the time. It is almost funny to watch the two of them, both stubborn as it comes, battling over a toy. Lacey cannot talk, of course, but you might as well read her words in her actions and facial expressions. I pray that God gives Allen and I the perfect set of skills needed to raise both our children according to the personalities He gave them. (And also maybe a glass of wine at the end of the day!)

We had a fun little family birthday party to celebrate her one year old status complete with hot pink, zebra, and a Minnie Mouse silhouette theme! She was in a great mood for her party and loved all the attention. We were even blessed to have the great-grandparents join us from Texas!

Lacey's 12 month stats:

• Weighs 21 lbs, 13 oz. (btwn 50-75th percentile); 30 inches long (75th percentile); 45 cm head circumference (50th percentile); weight to length ratio is 50% which her pediatrician says means she's perfect. :)
• Wears size 12 and 12-18 months, size 4 diaper, size 4 shoe
• Hair is blonde and very curly in the back!  Eyes appear to be going brown, currently look hazel. 
• Has 3 teeth, 2 on the bottom and 1 on top right, with several others coming in soon.
• Calls us "ma-ma-ma-ma" and "da-da-da". Says "ni-ni-ni" (night-night).
• Very attached to her purple blankie. She has had both pink and purple since she was little, but has decided the purple one is the one she needs. Has become very attached to her paci, though we mostly offer it to soothe her when in a tired or upset state or at bedtime/naptime.
• Uses a couple signs well, mostly "all done" and "more".
• Not good at playing by herself, wants someone to play with her (also like Luke). 
• Likes TV more than I would like...
• When she is told "no", she quickly does as much as she can of whatever it is before I can get to her and stop her fun. Hello? It's like I have two of the same kid! She does NOT like to be told no.
• Is a decent eater. Prefers to feed herself, but I still insist she eat some purees to ensure she gets enough of the good stuff, so we use the pouches she can feed herself or it's a game of how-long-can-I-trick-this-girl-into-eating-before-she-realizes-I'm-using-a-spoon? Favorite foods include: strawberries and freeze-dried strawberries and blueberries, broccoli (yes, I said broccoli! she loves it!), a slice a Tillamook cheddar nuked for a few seconds to make soft and sweet potato with cinnamon. Eats blueberry or banana yogurt mixed with fruit every morning. Loved egg yolks but seems to like the yolks+whites less. Will tolerate butternut squash and getting better at chicken meatballs and regular chicken. Still doesn't care for tofu no matter how I prepare it. Doesn't like carrots, peas or cauliflower. Luke's love of peanut butter began about this age, so we'll see how she handles it pretty soon.
• Just beginning to move on to whole cow's milk. Tolerates it in a bottle at bedtime/naptime, doesn't love it in a cup with meals.
• Naps. Ah, naps. How I wish she had at some point straightened out in this area! She was never a good napper her entire first year. For the last month and a half she would refuse an afternoon nap if she slept in the morning. Some days, although clearly tired when put down, she would roll around in her bed and talk or whine for an hour or more and NEVER go to sleep. After doing this for literally weeks, sleeping very little or not at all in the afternoon, I acquiesced and started putting her down at noon-ish for one nap. Even then she was typically only sleeping for 2 hours on average. I don't get it and really think she needs more sleep than that, but it clearly is not happening any other way and it was too long to stretch to bedtime when she woke from her first nap at 11:00 or 11:30. 
• Bedtime, on the other hand, seems to be going well and the girl is sleeping through the night despite new teeth and everything! She goes down about 6:30-7:00 pm and wakes at about 7:00 the next morning. No more dream feeds at 11 pm or anything! Hallelujah!
• Crawls and pulls up on things like a champ. Can cruise around tables, etc. Can take steps when pushing one of her walking toys, but really has no interest in actually walking or taking her own steps when we hold her hands. She is perfectly happy to crawl or be carried.
• Very attached to Mama and Dada, but doesn't cry when I leave her in the nursery at church.
• LOVES her Daddy and her brother. Lights up when she sees them. Will belly laugh when playing with Luke. So precious! It's hysterical to hear Luke when he gets upset with Lacey for whatever reason (she's playing with his ____.) He always says, "No, Lessey Lou!" We call her Lacey Lou often and he always uses it when he's upset with her. 

The following pictures document Lacey's first birthday, the cute birthday outfits, the portraits and the party! 

She LOVES this rocking horse. She often crawls over to it and stands up, then looks at us and whines to be put on for a ride. She pushes his ear to make the gallop/whinnying noises. Perhaps she'll be like her Auntie Kate and grow up loving horses!

Quick pics after church on her birthday weekend!

Cutie Patootie on her actual birthday!

As I shared earlier we celebrated her birthday with a theme of hot pink, zebra stripes and Minnie Mouse silhouettes!

The party favors.

Special birthday touches. :)

Check out this adorable cake!

This profile is so cute I almost can't stand it!

And the tutu! I get ridiculously giddy over little girl things!

This is one of my favorite pictures of her ever. It captures her so well. Sweet and silly.

My big girl!

Perfectly content with the wrapped gift, forget whatever was inside!

A little unsure of the cake. Brother blew out the candle.

After a little assistance in discovering you are supposed to eat it (she'd never had sugar before!), she started to dig in!

We rolled in her new bike at the end of the party, which she loves! This picture is precious as you can plainly see how thrilled she is with it, but gets me so emotional! How quickly that Smart Trike will become a real car and a real cell phone! 

Lacey Elizabeth, we love your growing personality and spirit! Our prayer is that we can gently help you learn to balance your will and spirit in pursuing the plan the Lord has for you. You are a precious child of God and our little blessing! Mommy, Daddy and Luke love you so much!