Happy FIRST Birthday Brinkley!

Where has this year gone? Yesterday, I looked back at her in her big girl car seat, drinking her sippy cup of milk and realized I don't have a baby anymore! It feels like I was just holding her for the first time and now she is crawling circles around me!
This past year has meant more to me than any part of my life!  Ike and I have really took on this parenting role and forgot what it was like before her!  Everything she does is precious to us!  Her smile melts our hearts and she's definitely full of herself!  Brinkley has been such a blessing!  A HAPPY & HEALTHY baby, which is all we had prayed for!  On our way to the doctor this morning a song came on that quoted, "She's her Daddy's girl and her Momma's world.." the perfect way to put our last 12 months!  Here is a photo recap of where we have come...

Brinkley...Mommy & Daddy LOVE you! 

Well in the past month we have dropped ALL bottles!  That means three meals a day, and one snack time! She has taken it like a champ and it wasn't an issue at all.  She started and finished her first round of swim lessons.  She's not quite the floater yet but seems to be on the fast track to swimming first!  The instructor kept using words and phrases like...strong-willed, strong cookie, determined, knows what she wants, etc.!  YIKES, I think she might have a future in SALES!  She has learned to climb up on our bed, on the coffee table and anything else that her body can reach!  We keep our bathrooms closed but in the instance a friend stops by and leaves it open she likes to splash in the potty...YUCK...which scares me to death!  She gets behind everything and tries pushing it.  So any stool, box, whatever is around...ends up on the other side of the house! We still don't have any teeth, so she is still gumming everything.  It was a false alarm in an older post but the doctor sees them and thinks they will all come in at once...PRAY FOR US...that will be one bad week!  Her vocabulary is short but first word was MOMMA and now we say Da-Da and baby! She loves to point at anything; this is because Ike takes her outside all the time and they point at airplanes, birds and the moon!  She is getting daring by letting go and taking a step but no walking yet!  I think it will be very very soon!

The doctor said today that she looks great and we are doing everything in good timing!  She proceeded to climb up the drawers in the exam room and he was helpful on safety advice for our little MONKEY!!(Since she has taught herself how to climb on our bed!) Two shots and a flu shot later we were walking out broken hearted but it didn't last long!

Weight: 21.2 lbs (50%)
Height: 30.75 (94%)  TALL CHILD haha!

Goodbye baby and hello toddler! A bittersweet day!!