Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!!!!!!!!!!

Well my little darling Chloe, you are one year old now. I can remember our first night together after you were born. I was very groggy but a nurse helped me latch you on and you slept in my bed all night and nursed. I couldn't believe I'd finally got my girl.

You have grown so much since then. That helpless little baby has been replaced by a burly toddler. I can't believe how fast this year has gone, but also how much has changed since that first night with you. But I wouldn't change it for a second. Every hardship I have faced has been lightened by your smile. You bring such joy to everyone around you. You are a total delight to be around and I couldn't have asked for a better daughter.
Here are some of the things you do at this age:

You're still breastfeeding on demand, although this has greatly reduced. When you feed you either try to perform acrobatics or you lie still and just stroke my arm. It's really loving and sweet. You still have only 8 teeth but another 6 are about to burst through.You are going through a very fussy eating stage at the minute and it's tough to persuade you to eat solids at times. You will happily try anything but then you get bored and shake your head to indicate you don't want any more. Your favourite foods are pesto, olives and parma ham. Really salty and unhealthy for a baby, but shows you have good taste. You always offer me your food.

You are much more vocal now, happily babbling to yourself. You love to pretend to be on the telephone, holding it to your ear and saying 'Hiya' repeatedly into it. You lift your teddies and dolls, rock them back and forth saying 'Aww aww' presumably because I do that to you when you're upset. You always have a toy in your mouth, usually a Little People person or animal. I don't know why, you just play happily with it in your mouth. I wonder if you're copying Missi(our dog). You love to put things into a bag and take them out again. So you love the 'my first purse' that I bought you for your birthday.

You point at EVERYTHING and ask 'utts dat?' (what's that?). You're so curious about the world. I can see you noseying at everything with an inquisitive look on your face. You miss nothing. You love to point at the cat and say 'Cat' really loudly. You can point to a nose, eyes, mouth, feet and hands in a picture. It's amazing how much you know. You can also say hiya, bye, nana, papa, dada, mama, baba (for boobie), missi (which comes out like 'Issth') and yuck. You wave hello and goodbye unprompted now.

You love to dance and sing. You sing along to music all the time (albeit to your own tune). You like to push things along (your pram/footstool/trike). You are learning to run at the minute so you keep tripping over your feet and getting a bump on the head. Although thankfully we haven't had any dreadful bruises yet.

You LOVE books and will happily sit and look through them yourself. Then if you want me to read them you bring them over and set them on my knee. This is such a wonderful quality. I am so pleased you like books. You always share toys. You like to give me and others toys to hold. You have just learnt to throw a ball (albeit only a foot or so to me) and then I throw it back to you. You love that.

You like to pick pretend/invisible things off the floor and hand them to me. Then I have to hand them back. You have just learnt how to rock on your snail rocker. You can now climb onto the bed and sofa yourself. You love to sit in the dog/cats bed for some reason. You also like to find a wee nook and sit in it, like the alcove beside fireplace or under the coffee table.

You keep trying to dress yourself. For instance you will get a pair of tights and open the waist and then try to get them over your foot (unsuccessfully). Or you will get a sock and set it on your foot to see if it magically goes on. You try to pull tops over your head, but end up wearing them like a scarf. It's the sweetest thing, and shows how much you are maturing.

You squat to do a wee. I discovered this when I noticed every so often you would just squat down for a min then get back up and carry on. So one day while you were doing this I stuck my little finger into your nappy and sure enough you were doing a pee. I couldn't believe it. You also will bring a clean nappy over to me when you have a poopy nappy.

You try to wipe your own bottom with a baby wipe if I give one to you. You are totally obsessed with belly buttons. You stick your finger in mine asking 'utts dat?' You can point to it when I'm dressed if I ask you where it is. I recently showed you your belly button and you now keep poking your finger into it.

What surprises me most about you is how independent and secure you are. For instance you are not remotely bothered by the dark or being on your own. You will happily walk from our sitting room into the lounge (no lights on) and get a toy. It's wonderful that you will do this. You happily play with Lucy (your little friend) alongside you but you just as happily play alone while I am watching TV. It seems as long as you know I am about you are happy enough, and you can regularly get cuddles.

You are a very content little girl, you have such a gentle, caring nature and like to cuddle on my knee just watching TV sometimes. You truely have completed my life and I can't wait to live the rest of it with you. You are a dream child and you really will never, ever know just how much of a miracle you were. It was like God answered every single little bit of my prayers when he blessed me with you.

Happy Birthday little one. I wish you many, many more happy birthdays in your life. You deserve them.

Love always,

Momma xxx