My baby is one!

June is a big month for our family. In one week we brought cupcakes to Erin's class to celebrate her birthday, 2 days later we had a cake for Jared's birthday, and then 3 days after that was Marissa's birthday. I made some brownie cupcakes for her and celebrated on Sunday. It's so hard to believe my baby is one! (Side note on Erin's cupcakes: they should have told me in advance that they had to be store bought! All the teachers, aides, kitchen help and administrators were freaking out over the the home made violations. I was really hoping all the kids didn't coincidentally get the food poisoning the next day. That could have been suspicious.) Back to Marissa...

Marissa started walking at about 10 1/2 months but recently she has begun training to be one of those speed walkers. It's definitely not running, but that kid can move. She also likes climbing and balancing. I found her standing on the table a couple of times recently, should that concern me? She also learned how to get off beds and couches by turning around, though we have no idea how she learned it since we didn't teach her. Being the third child with an older brother who's adopted the "tough love" philosophy means she is also learning some good defensive skills. She may be small but she's really tough.

Her first word was "hi" and she is so cute when she says it as soon as she sees you. One of her other first words was "kitty", so whenever she sees one of our cats she says "hi kitty" or a dog or a bird or a hamster, pretty much anything that is alive is a kitty to her. She also says "daddy", "mommy", "cheese", "shoes", "poo-poo" (when you are changing her), "no, no, no, no, no" (usually when she wants something or when you try to take something she has away), "thank you", "yucky", "yummy", and "purple popple" (it's a purple stuffed animal that turns into a ball).

She was 18.5 lbs and 29 inches at the doctor this week, which is somewhere around 10-25th percentile. People always comment on how small she is and how they can't believe how well she is walking. She is still a thumb sucker when she goes to sleep or when she's tired and cuddles up to you. Every time I put her to bed she gives me a big, snugly hug. It makes me want to stop time and just hold her forever. She's going to grow up and do other great things, but I don't want to forget how small and sweet she is now.

I almost forgot to mention the one thing I won't miss, her major drooling problem! The poor kid has been teething non-stop for a few months now (I think the tooth count is around 12, but I could be wrong--every time I reach in there's another one. Why can't they come all at once and just get it over with anyway?), and the slobber has only escalated. We're talking four bibs before church was over last Sunday. I'm going to go as far as to say her problem is slightly worse than Alex's was, but he doesn't drool anymore so there's hope. The doctor says she's well-hydrated. I say let's hope it's not too much longer. I guess if I have to take drooly along with cute, cuddly, sweet, happy Marissa I'll take it.

Checking out the cupcake.

Yum!

All right, now that the frosting is gone I can play
"drop the cupcake on the floor repetitively as my sister picks it up"

Opening her presentI loved this doll because you press her tummy and she laughs just like Marissa. Try it, just press Marissa's tummy.
Happy first birthday sweet Marissa! We love you!