You Made It!

 One year ago.  I remember feeling like that day would never arrive.  haha  Look how tiny she was!

She's the sweetest little LSU fan I've ever seen.

 We decorated the high chair spot for her on her birthday morning.

 Carson (our little chef-in-training) helped make her some chocolate chip pancakes.  He not only stirred the batter, but he flipped them in the fry pan as well!

 Benji made her pancakes in the shape of "D" for her. (I believe his dad did that for him as a kid)

 After breakfast we let her open her gifts from Mima and Pawpaw and from us.  She got some great jammies and a darling dress and Charlie Brown Christmas!  We gave her a shape puzzle she had some fun with.

 Here is the high chair spot decorated at my parents--basically a shrine to my baby girl!

 If you look closely you can see her hugging her baby doll.  My grandma gave it to her and it was one I played with as a little girl at my grandma's!

  

 We gave her some All-American Costco cake--I think she liked it. :)

 I simply adore this picture of Carson and Dixie.  You can see how much she loves her big brother!

 She loves practicing her walking skills

 She also loves climbing in and out and in and out of this little rocking chair.  It is the funniest thing.  She'll climb in and then sit back and rock for a minute, then climb out and do it again.

Our sweet Dixie Anne turned 1 year old last Saturday, November 24th!  We can hardly believe how quickly that year passed us by.  We tried our best to savor every moment and enjoy the good as well as the hard times.  I think we did a good job.  I loved every minute of that year and each day am more grateful for her than the day before.  She truly fits right into our family and fills a place in Benji's and my hearts that no one else could. 

Even though she is a big girl to us, she is quite petite for her age.  At her one year check-up she weighed in at 18.2# and was 27" long.  That means she is in the 8th%ile for weight and 4th%ile for height!

She now eats chunks of food consistently and I haven't mashed up her food in a while.  She's really good at chewing up food considering she has NO TEETH yet.  I think the bottom front two are starting to come up though.

She is getting more and more comfortable with other people if she sees them a lot.  Basically she goes to Benji and my parents readily.  Anyone else is hit or miss and if it's a stranger then she won't go at all (understandable).  Benji and I went on our first date since her birth recently.  We were so worried that she would cry with my parents the whole time we were gone--she didn't cry once!  We were so happy.  

She has learned to clap and loves to imitate noises she hears.  She can say "Mama" and "Dada" and actually knows which ones we are.  When the garage door opens she always looks excited and says "Dada!".

She sleeps through the night pretty much, which is nice.  Bedtime is 8:00 pm.  She absolutely loves bath time and will try to climb in anytime she's near it.  

Her hair is beautiful and long and I love it.  

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Girl.  We love you more than you know!!