Happy 1st Birthday to my darling baby girl. In honour of Violet I am going to write about all the clever things she has learned and accomplished in her first year of life, in no particular order because I really can't remember. Violet has learned to dance. She bops up and down and wiggles her bum just like a girl. she has learned to sing along with her siblings. She has learned to hold the phone to her ear and chatter away. She speaks in the most adorable language. She has also learned to wrestle with Daddy and her siblings, to give big wet sloppy kisses, to wave, to clap, to play peek-a-boo, to crawl up stairs but not down, to climb on furniture, to share her food right out of her mouth and already chewed. So thoughtful, and to give the best snuggles, and the biggest smiles. She has the ability to make anyone she meets fall in love with her. My favorite thing that Violet does is nurse her blankie. She sticks her tongue between her lips in a sucking motion and holds the satiny edge of her blankie to her mouth. It's how she puts herself to sleep. Sweetest of all is when she takes the edge of her blankie and holds it up to my mouth to share her favorite comfort. It melts my heart. I adore everything about my sweet baby girl, and cherish every moment I have with her. I am sad for this year to end, and wish I could keep her a baby for a little bit longer, but alas that is not to be. Instead I just need to relish in every delightful milestone. I frequently find myself reflecting on the words to a poem my Nana had embroidered and framed. "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow, for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs. Dust go to sleep. I'm rocking by baby, cause babies don't keep."