Jan 22

Today is a big day!!!! January 22nd is my Mother Dearest's birthday AND it's my cousin Clayton's FIRST birthday AND it's my boyfriend Meyer's FIRST birthday!!!!!!!!!!!! What a day!!!!

So everyone raise your bottle, sippy cup and glass to my Mom, Clayton and Meyer! Mom, I hope you don't throw up today and enjoy what most likely will be a party at work today with your coworkers and your wonderful evening out tonight with friends! Clayton, I hope you have enjoyed your first year as much as me! I know I've only seen you twice but you are my cousin and I love you dearly! (and you are going to be a big sibling around the same time as me!!!!) Enjoy digging into a piece of cake today! Meyer, I've been blessed to hang out with you a lot this year and I have loved being your girlfriend! Even if I still am jealous you share my mom's birthday and I don't!! And I was due first! But I hope you enjoy your birthday cake, too! Sorry my mom is stealing your mom tonight....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you three!! And anyone else out there who might share this blessed day as your birthday! May the Lord bless you and keep you today!

No more naps!

Since my first birthday is only two weeks ago, I decided it's time to start acting older. Therefore, I'm cutting out a nap. No more morning nap for me!! And my afternoon nap is also cutting down from 2 hours to about 1 hour. My parents don't like my change, but I need to start acting my age. And only "BABIES" take two naps a day!!

Speaking of babies... Mom re-arranged my bedroom today. She said she was making room for a toddler bed that I'll move into here in a few months. She said something about a new baby needing my bed. What is this????? I get a new bed? Sweet!!! Score one for Daphne! Mom said it's not any bigger than my current bed, but it doesn't have as tall as railings. My mind already started to race and dream about all the adventures I can have at night now! Especially since I don't need to take those silly morning naps anymore!

Boots are made for WALKING

These boots are made for WALKING and that's just what they'll do! Yes folks, mark today down in history... I WALKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All by myself!!!! I did it the first time walking to mom to get her attention. She was so shocked, she had me repeat it several times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Then after Dad got home from work, he made me do it several times, too!



The above video is me really wanting to walk..... I take one little step... And the below video is me walking for real!!



I'm sure I will have more video's and pictures soon, the camera memory stick got full tonight!

Date with Jackson!

Last Saturday I had a date with my boyfriend Jackson! I know he's six months younger than me, but I'm not picky. He's a cutie after all, and not much smaller than me. His mom and my mom wanted to hang out, so Jackson and I got to play together, too! He can't sit up yet, so our moms laid us down on the groud to try and compare our size...

And since he's at that "yoga" stage of life, I was showing him how to pull up his feet without using his hands! And sharing my pig toy at the same time!
Then I had to roll over and get a closer look...
Oops, I almost poked out his eye! I'll be more careful next time Jackson!

Whoops

My parents use a phrase with me, "Don't touch." And normally I respond immediately. But sometimes the touch is inevitable. I just have to!! And sometimes I need to touch the item to break my fall or help me stand up. But I learned the hard way that sometimes I need to obey my parents...

The other day I started to pull up on something. I heard my mom say, "Daphne, Don't Touch!" So I stopped. But I wanted to stand up, so I did it anyway. Well, as I hang my head low and speak soft, I will admit my mother was right. That's the last time you will ever hear me say that though!

I was trying to pull up using a floor lamp. It was steady enough to get me upright, but once on my feet, it was tilting....and too quick for my feet to respond. Within a nanosecond it came crashing down to the floor sending glass shards all over the living room floor. Either from guilt or fear I'm not sure, but I started to bawl.

Mom quickly assessed the situation, removed me from the glass and then pulled out that hideous machine that's really loud. You know the one, she walks behind it and it makes the carpet all pretty. But I hate it. I scream when she starts it up. So when she pulled it out, I knew I was in trouble....

Whoops...

Dancing with the Stars

The first time I ever giggled was when Daddy was humming along to the Dancing with the Star theme song... So dancing must mean a lot to me... So I think it's time I attend the open casting call for Dancing with the Stars. Not as the star, but as the professional! I can really dance you know!

It all started about two weeks ago. At first I just bobbed my head. I noticed a reaction from the old people. So then I got my knees into it, too. I would "bounce" to the beat and nod my head. Then I decided to take it a step further... I would twist at the waist and flail my arms about side to side! I'm a dancing fool!

Now about every time I hear music, I dance away! The "twist" is my favorite, and it gets the biggest response from any adult in proximity...

Stuck in a bean bag!

A new torture device has been made, watch out world!! It's called a......BEAN BAG. One afternoon my mother was working and I guess I was crawling around too much for her. That and I was picking on the dogs too much. And since she was working, she can't "fully" keep her eyes on me, so I take advantage of the situation sometimes. Hence, the bean bag. This chair is actually Dad's, but mom decided to set me in it for fun.

And thus the torture began. No matter the amount of wiggling I did, I couldn't get out of the darn thing! Finally I settled on defeat and just played in there. Which of course started round two of torture....Ophelia. She figured out I was perfect level for her tongue. And the more she licked me the more I made cute little noises. And that silly mother of mine was just laughing and taking photos. Of course all the photos with Ophelia are a blurred mess because Ophelia was more wiggly than me...

11 month Bumbo Growth Chart

On December 31, I officially turned 11 months old!! Can you believe it? And since there was snow outside, my mom took me outside to get my Bumbo Growth Chart photo. So here's my 11 month Bumbo Growth Chart photo!!

And for comparison sake, here's months 1-6...

And here's months 7-11!

Best gift of all....

Out of all the Christmas gifts I got this year, one exceeds the rest... Not to downplay anything I got, but this one is very special to me and my family...

I'M GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!!!!!!!

I'm so excited about this! Really I don't know what all this entails, but I know it's a good thing. Come August 1st, 2008, I shall be a big sister though!

But my mom asked me to ask something of you all. She's VERY sick and needs your prayers, please. I guess she was really sick with me, too. I think that's part of why she didn't mail out any Christmas cards, she said she barely got shopping done for gifts. And my laundry is sure piling up... At least she still feeds me, even if she doesn't eat anything herself (or runs off to the bathroom in the middle of feeding me). She's started a second blog for the new baby, the link is in my side bar, but I think its www.redredandmorered.blogspot.com She's started it several months ago just to have it up and running, so soon you'll be able to read from the perspective of my little brother or sister! I wonder how they'll be able to update a blog from inside a womb??? Interesting...

Christmas Dinner

What a wonderful first Christmas I had!!! Thank you so much everyone for everything!! After spending the afternoon with Grandpa, we went back over to Grandma's house for a big dinner. She made duck! I think I tried a bite, but now I can't remember. She also had some chicken, too. And I had yet another outfit change.... They tried to get a traditional style photo of me in front of the tree, but I was too busy watching the house full of people and the dogs!See, I am trying a sneak attack on Ophelia!
After our playtime and the scrumptious meal, we opened MORE presents!!! What a fun day!! Grandma got me a fun school bus that will help teach me the alphabet! I am also posting this picture because I wanted to show off the cute little curls I'm getting in the back of my hair...
I love my school bus, I play with it all the time!!
I would have to say my first Christmas was a success!! I was blessed with so many new toys and my mom wanted me also remember all the new clothes I got too. I just care about the toys, but my Mom said she's very happy I got a bunch of cute new clothes too.

Thank you so much everyone, I love you all!!!

Christmas Day

Because of my families unique structure, we got to celebrate several Christmas's! After breakfast with Grandma, we went over to Grandpa's house! Dad, Uncle Myles, Aunt Leah, Mom and I all went over and spent the afternoon with Grandpa and Great Grandma! I got to open more gifts, too. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this! I opened one thing and I had to have Dad explain it to me....
Oh! I think I got it now!!
Then Grandpa pulled out the big gift....... Oooooh, what do we have here?!?!
It's a walk behind Herbie car!!!! THANK YOU GRANDPA!! See how good I can walk behind it?
What a great Christmas afternoon! Thank you everyone!!!

Christmas Morning!

One moment I'm at Great Grandpa's house opening gifts, then the next moment I am asleep in the car. And when you are asleep time passes so fast that you have no clue what is going on. So on Christmas Morning when I woke up, I was shocked to find myself in Grandma's house several hours away!!!! I was so happy to see Grandma and my Aunt Missy though! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! You can't really see it here, but Grandma gave me a shirt that reads "Who needs Santa when I've got Grandma!"
We each had a stocking full of gifts to open, Daddy helped me open mine. Grandma had given me some very special items that I'll have to place on my special shelf in my room. Thank you Grandma!!!
My mom and I watched the movie called "The Navitity Story" so that I could learn more about the birth of baby Jesus. Mom wanted me to pass along to everyone that even though that is a Christmas movie and a Christian movie, that it was REALLY good and I should recommend that everyone rent it and watch it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

First Christmas Eve!

Like most families, when the evening of Christmas Eve rolled around, we piled tons of wrapped gifts and food into the car and drove down to Grandpa's house! There we enjoyed some good family time, way too much food and opened too many presents. But I loved every moment of it! After all, it was my first Christmas Eve ever!

When we got there, I had to show off my cute dress (my mom bought it before I was born with the intention of it being my first Christmas dress!) And I also am sporting my Santa style hat that Grammy bought me! Don't I just look adorable? Zelpha sure thought so!

So after eating, it was time to open presents... But I'm only 11 months old, I have no clue what that means. Here's a breakdown of what happened next. Mom sat me down in the middle of the room on floor and they put all these boxes around me with pretty paper taped all over them. Then everyone got out their cameras and stared at me. What am I supposed to do?!?
Sensing my hestitation, the old people came to my rescue and showed me how to rip open gifts. Guess what? They have toys inside!!!!!!
But the toys were still behind plastic... But I learned if you picked up and moved the paper in your fingers it makes a fun sound! So I ended up playing more with the paper than anything else...
Merry Christmas Eve!!!