My baby, my family!

Today, my daughter is 16 months old. She is such an incredibly active and social child. She loves to climb everything, get into everything, and run every where. When she mastered walking at 11 months, she began running, and she hasn't stopped since.

She is a good eater, and eats all of the same foods we eat. She really enjoys picking fresh raspberries from the bush in the back yard. If I let her play alone in the fenced in back yard, the raspberry patch is one of the first places she will visit. I have tried to teach her that she should only pick the red berries, but unfortunately, she even picks the small, white berries that are not yet ripe.

She has a limited spoken vocabulary. She says, Mom, Dad, meow, dog, no, and one. However, she has a large vocabulary of signs that she employs. She knows 30+ signs and surprises me daily when she uses a sign for the first time.

She loves taking baths, playing with our cat, Sammy, and visiting with her friends. We have been taking her into nursery for two months, now. The first day we took her, and even to this day, she just walks right into the room and doesn't look back. This is the case whenever we have dropped her off at a babysitter's house, or if we leave her with Grandma. She just doesn't seem to mind hanging out with other people. She thrives on it. More than once, she has gone up to a complete stranger (in my presence) and asked to be picked up. She takes after her mommy that way. Apparently, when I was younger, I would walk away with a complete stranger if my parents would let me. Kinda scary, yes. But, she has a big, sweet heart that she wants to share with everyone.

She loves giving hugs to her cousins. Here she is with her sweet cousin, Logan. (Thanks for the picture, Kristin!)

Logan is going to be two in October. He is such a good little boy, and so fun to be around! You can tell how much they like each other. Apparently, there was some supervised kissing going on during this time as well. Wish I could have seen that.

It is a joy to be a mother! It is a calling that I find very rewarding and fulfilling. I can not imagine my life without my precious daughter in it, and I look forward to expanding my family, and bringing new siblings into this life for my babe to grow up with. I thank God for this wonderful blessing of family!