Georgia's First Birthday Party

We got to host Georgia's first birthday party at our new house. It was nice to finally fill our home with family and friends, and to celebrate our baby girl. The theme was "Sweet as a Peach," since a lot of people call her "peaches."

Our baby girl is ONE

Georgia turned one! Every single day, our hearts grow even bigger to fit all of the love and joy that she has brought us. Nothing makes us happier than watching her grow and develop into such a beautiful, healthy, smart little tot who has enough personality to fill a large building.

As I wrote on Instagram... She has made up for every moment she spent screaming as a "colicky" newborn by being the most happy, loving, cuddly baby girl. Everything I thought I knew about having a baby, she has made me re-evaluate by already being so special and unique. I have a feeling Georgia will frequently have me re-evaluating things to keep up with her. It's clear that she knows how loved she is, but she gives it back to us tenfold. You have to work hard to get into Georgia's "circle," but you know you've made it when your skin is bruised from being pinched. She has truly completed our family like we never could have imagined, and has melted all of our hearts with those big, beautiful blue eyes.

It's hard to fully describe Georgia in words. It's like we have known exactly who she is since the day she was born. She was born Georgia, and will always be Georgia. She has literally had the same look in her eyes from day one, and it's like she has always known exactly what's going on around her. She stares down new people and studies everything going on around her. She wants to be close to the people she knows (those in her "circle") until she's figured everything out for herself. We know better than to even try to make her go to a new person or explore a new place until she has fully evaluated the situation and decides she is ready. She is so pretty (and I'm not at all biased) that when we are in public, people are constantly wanting to talk to her and/or touch her. It doesn't take long for them to determine that's not a good idea, based on the (I'm going to cut you if you touch me) "look" she gives them. It really does keep me laughing.

She loves to imitate everything me, Patrick, and Banks do, and she really catches onto things quickly. She decided to really start walking on the day of her first birthday, although she had been taking steps for about a month before then. She started pretty much running within a couple of days after she started walking, mostly to keep up with Banks. She is saying about 5-8 words ("Mama, Dada, Duh for duck, Uh-Oh, Woof for dog, Buh for Banks), and she is signing for "more" and "all done" at meals. She loves putting things in and out of containers and boxes, and putting lids on and off of things. One of her favorite things to do is roll around with Banks on the bed, couch, or even the floor, and "wrestle." Just when we think he's being too rough, she lets out the biggest laugh and goes back for more. She is so lucky to have him as her big brother, and she seems to be fully aware of how special he is.

I finally weaned her from breastfeeding the week after she turned one, and she has adjusted to the bottle well. One big plus to weaning is that Patrick has gotten to enjoy rocking her to sleep while playing her special music, just like he did with Banks when he was Georgia's age. I love watching their father-daughter bond grow.

She is doing great with sleeping. She wakes up a few times a week during the night, but usually we just have to go put her paci back in her mouth and pat her for a few minutes and she goes back to sleep. She is still early to bed and early to rise, but we have adjusted to her schedule!

She continues to eat EVERYTHING we put in front of her. To be so tiny, it's amazing that she seriously eats about double what Banks eats at every meal. We have yet to figure out where she puts it all!

Height: 2' 4.25" (16%)
Weight: 18 lbs, 12 oz (32%)
Head Circumference: 43.5cm (14%)

She had a great 1 year physical, and we know for sure that her lungs are strong since I'm pretty sure the whole building knew when she got her shots. Let's just say Dr.Maddox and his nurse Whitney are definitely not in her "circle" as of now!

Georgia is constantly nodding/shaking her head for yes/no, and she does it so exaggerated. It is adorable. During her first birthday party, she nodded her head "yes" the entire time she was eating her smash cake. It was like she needed to let everyone know the cake was delicious, and she approved. Such a funny girl!

So that's it... my best effort at giving the full run-down of Miss Georgia. To know her is to love her, and we never even knew we could love so much.

Georgia is 11 months old

Eleven months old. The last month of real "baby." I can't believe it. If we weren't having so much fun with her in this stage, I would be really sad that my last baby is almost one. But she is SO MUCH FUN. She is so happy and sweet. The biggest change between her 10 month post and this one is that she has taken a couple of steps over the last day or two. She still prefers to crawl, but when she really concentrates and works for it, she can take some steps on her own. Karen and Rion were in town visiting us this weekend, and they actually got to see her take her first steps, which is super special.

She has also become much more independent over the last week or two. She is showing a desire to do things on her own, and is venturing off more to go "explore" the new house. She will crawl from the living room down the hall and into her bedroom and start playing by herself. Although she is becoming more independent, she still loves being held and snuggled. She is still my skin-pincher and craves that skin-to-skin contact, especially when she is being rocked to be put down for nap or bed.

She moved up to nursery 2 at school. She has done GREAT with the transition. I took in her favorite toy, which is a pink bear my mom got for her. I think having the bear there really helped her adjust comfortably, along with the great teachers in nursery 2 (Lori and Loretta). She probably remembered several of the babies from nursery 1 that are now in nursery 2, which I'm sure helped too. It's so nice to know my babies are in good hands when I have to be at work. My body is at work anyway, but my mind and heart are right there at Boulevard Baptist with Banks and Georgia. The teachers know that about me by this point, and they are great about texting me updates throughout the day.

Georgia's top left central incisor also broke through this week. So she now has her two bottom teeth and one on the top. That's good for her since she is ready to CHOW DOWN on anything and everything. It's fun having such a good eater (as of now, anyway... hopefully she won't turn picky on me like her brother).

Now, I'm going to enjoy these last couple of weeks with my BABY before she turns the big ONE.