crazy girls

hannah has become increasingly into her wardrobe this year. i have lost complete control of putting together her outfits. it makes me sad sometimes because she has a ton of cute clothes that she just refuses to wear. she only wants to wear dresses and skirts, and passionately refuses to ever put on pants. most of the time i accept it and try to mostly let her put together her clothes. i try to gently lead her in a different direction if something is horribly clashing. the other day she came out of her room wearing this, complete with an inside-out and backward shirt.

libby's middle name is trouble. she is the funniest little thing. i've mentioned her climbing into the fireplace. her new thing is climbing into this small ottoman that we have in the living room. she takes the top of it off, climbs in and just sits there. the other day, she was standing at the dryer as she does sometimes when i'm unloading it. sometimes she will pull things out too, thinking that she's being a big help. i'd gotten something out and turned my back to fold it. when i turned back around, that stinker was INSIDE of the dryer. she looked so proud of herself. i guess i should have scolded her and gotten her right out but i thought i'd take a picture first because honestly... it was hilarious.

oh, and a walking update: libby has been standing on her own really well this past week. she gets sturdier every day, it seems. she took her first real step in the neighbor's back yard yesterday! i stood her there, and got her to step toward me. i am letting her take her time, though. i'm not ready for her to be such a big girl!

libby at 12 months

we took libby for her one-year checkup on nov. 22nd. she weighed 21 pounds and 13 ounces and was 30 inches long. she had a fever on this day, and the previous day, so she didn't get her shots. i think she just had a little cold.

at 12 months libby is a delight (but then, she has been a delight for months 1-11, as well). she knows what seems to me like tons of words. she knows: momma, daddy, hannah, drink, there, bye-bye, flower, tree, light, fan, and thanks to the recent holidays she's learned pumpkin, turkey, christmas tree, santa, star. i know there are others i'm leaving out... but she is a great communicator. she knows how to get her point across. the other day she pointed at the back door and waved her hand, obviously meaning she wanted to go outside. i took her out and she kicked her legs, so happy she got what she wanted.

she has recently gotten really steady on her feet - just in the past week, i would say. i will stand her up, and she will clap for herself. she'll take steps while trying to get around while holding onto the furniture. one of her favorite things to do is get the cushions off the couch so that she can climb up onto it and sit. she and hannah will sit on the couch like this together and watch sesame street or yo gabba gabba.

her favorite foods are grapes and corn on the cob, so i guess she likes a challenge. two foods that are kind of hard to eat if you are a baby with only 7 teeth. she also has a deep love and appreciation for pancakes, and will chow down on mornings that i make them. she also eats a lot of eggs, applesauce, pasta, peas and beans.

she is mischievous. one day last week i left her in the living room for 30 seconds while i went to grab a few things. when i came back she was IN the fireplace. our fireplace is empty, there are no logs or anything, but it is a little bit of a climb to get in there, and i just know she jumped at the chance when i left the room because she has been eyeing it for quite a while. when i came back in the room and saw her she jumped and looked at me like she knew she had been caught. she is funny like that. sometimes she will find a toy and if she's not sure she should be playing with it she'll look at me, and then reach out her hand to give it to me. there have been a couple of times that i've found something like a little barbie shoe of hannah's in her mouth. so as you can see, i have to be very vigilant with her!

she's still taking two naps a day, one around 9 and one around 2. she is sleeping through the night, from about 7 to 6:30.

this week she started to tickle us! she went up to tim yesterday, while he was sleeping on the couch, and got him right under his arms and said "tickle tickle tickle," like we do to her. if that wasn't the funniest, cutest thing i've ever seen...

i remember age 1 being so much fun with hannah, too. it's one of the most fun times, but with hannah i was so anxious to see what each stage would bring. with libby i just sit back and enjoy it and don't rush it at all. she is an amazing baby. i wish i could bottle up the joy that she gives me.

just look at this girl on the move, ready to get into everything!

libby's first birthday party

on libby's birthday, nov. 19th, we had a nice little party for her. the theme was one year in a flash, so it gave me an excuse to display lots of pictures from this special first year. here's the front of the invites i made:

we had the party in the morning, at 10, since that's when libby is the happiest. we had a brunch meal of mini quiche, pasta salad, and fruit kabobs with dip.

there were cupcakes for the kids and muffins for the adults

i made some photo confetti using one of the most exciting things i've purchased this year: a 2-inch circle punch.

and there was plenty of juice and coffee.

now finally, here is the birthday girl!

and a family picture...

to help hannah feel more included i told her she could invite a friend from school. of course i knew she would want to invite her very best friends, hope and nicole. she was THRILLED that they were there.

they played and played and ran around in the back yard.

libby ate cake.

she started with a gentle touch of the icing.

she tested it out while sister happily licked icing off the spatula.

but she decided pretty quickly that she was done. she didn't like the way the icing felt on her fingers.

she looooved when the big girls helped her open her presents.

it was a wonderful party, and we all had so much fun. it was the perfect celebration of her first year, if i do say so myself. i love this girl so much.

one year old

i could try to find the words to say how much libby means to me, how quickly this past year has gone, and how she makes our family feel more complete. how she makes us all so happy, and how her smile lights up the room - no, our house - no, the world... but words are not enough. maybe these pictures will help me. 

trick or treat

hannah has been looking forward to this night for months. she decided probably at the end of august that she wanted to be rapunzel for halloween. she's changed her mind between now and then, but i lured her back into the idea with "the long hair" - though the wig was kind of a pain and didn't last long. and libby was our cute little pumpkin. every baby should be a pumpkin, right? hannah loved running around the neighborhood with the sweet older girl from next door. when we got home, of course, we spilled out all the candy on the floor. libby even loved going through the colorful packages and we gave her a couple of treats too.

pumpkin patch #2

after having one trip to a pumpkin patch rained out a couple weeks ago, hannah's class went to lazenby farms monday. this is a fairly new pumpkin patch, and it is only 5 miles or so down the road from her school. libby came along with us, too. all the kids enjoyed it - there was the usual hay ride and pumpkin patch, a hay maze and a playground. they also have a beautiful cotton field and the kids got to pick some cotton. but i think playing in the big box of corn was the thing they all enjoyed the most. we definitely need to go back to this one next year.