One year

First off, everyone should click here and listen to the song. The video is coincidental, I just love this song and it seems appropriate. That song's by Ben Folds and is about his daughter.

So Chloe is one year old today! It's so hard to believe that it's been a full year since she came into this world. It seems like just yesterday that she wasn't here, but at the same time it seems like she's been with us forever. Somewhere between being in the hospital and now, she's grown into a full-blown tornado with a love of pulling things off of where they're supposed to be.

Here's what our lovely daughter does:
-She loves books. Loves them. Most books do not survive her love for long, but hopefully she'll grow out of that phase and into the "I love reading" phase.
-Anything with music catches her attention. She loves how it sounds.
-Talking on the phone. Well, not so much talking, but she smiles huge when somebody talks to her on the phone. I need to be prepared to spend a lot on phone bills with this one.
-She has graduated from the holding hand whilst walking stage and into the "you slow me down, let go of me and let me run" stage. It's terrifying and awesome.
-She still loves to climb. We need to get rid of this entertainment center.
-She doesn't care for baby food anymore. She eats our food or she eats nothing.
-She gives me kisses. Wide open mouthed and tongue out kisses.
-She has started to babble a lot more. She's always been more of a mover than a talker, but she's getting the hang of it. This morning when she wanted Becky to pick her up, Becky looked down and said "up?" like she normally does. Chloe looks with arms outstretched and says "up!"

It gets crazy and hectic with her. Everyone who has a kid knows this. But times like tonight when I sing and rock her for a couple minutes before putting her down to sleep, I can reflect and remember how precious she is and how blessed we are for this opportunity to have her enrich my life and teach me that yes, I truly am a jerk with no patience, but if I just follow her lead I'll turn out alright in the end.

Life certainly wouldn't be the same without her. I'm glad I don't have to know how I'd be on the other side of the hypothetical.