Happy Birthday Juliet!

Juliet is one year old.

When she was first born I didn't think she was that cute (sorry, Mom, it's true). Jason told everyone she looked like a turtle. Jason's mom said she looked exactly like Jason did when he was a baby. She stopped looking like Jason so much, definitely stopped looking like a turtle and is now one of the two cutest babies I know (phew!).

The first things you'll notice about this baby are her eyes. And how can you help it? They are big and blue and attached to an adorable face. Wherever we go complete strangers make sure to stop us and remind us how fabulous those eyes are.

I used to tell people that it's a good thing she's so cute because that's her only good quality. Totally not true. She had been a very sweet and happy baby for months and months. Then we had a period of about two months where Juliet whined constantly and I thought that's just how she was going to stay. Luckily for all of us she has decided to be a sweet baby again. Maybe since she was about to turn one she decided it was time to grow up a little.

Juliet loves to climb. She's a yo-yo on the stairs. She climbs in and out of the pool or bath tub. She loves to swim and experiment putting her face under the water - to dunk herself or to get a drink, I'm not sure.

Juliet never did like to snuggle. This confused me when she was tiny because I was used to rocking a baby to sleep. She hated it so finally I put her down and she went right to sleep. I was quite pleased that she could go to sleep on her own but the down side was that she didn't want to cuddle, ever. Until one day she caught a high fever from a friend. For about three days all she wanted to do all day was cuddle. I'm pretty sure she had vertigo too since every time I would stand up she would grab at my shirt, snuggle herself into my shoulder and hold on for dear life. While we were sad she was sick, we loved the snuggles we got. After making a full recovery, she apparently decided that snuggling isn't so bad. So now we do get to snuggle on occasion.

Juliet grew her first two teeth when she was 9 months old. She still only has two teeth. The doctor says she'll have some more within a week but we sure will miss that two-toothed smile.

She has always been a good eater. It's easy to see that when you look at her thighs. Her favorite thing though is eating things off of the floor. She will sit in her highchair and throw cheerios onto the floor, signaling that she is done eating. As soon as I get her out and put her down, she starts eating all the cheerios that are on the floor. I guess if you can't throw them any farther down you might as well eat them. She'll eat anything else that's down there too, although now she's a little better at handing things to me when I pronounce them to be 'yucky.'

She still mostly only likes Mom and Dad. She has warmed up considerably to Gramma Nancy since she gets babysat at least once a week. It has been quite a relief to be able to hand her off every once in a while without having to worry about her screaming at me.

She loves to play peek-a-boo and get tickled. Sometimes we'll play peek-a-boo between the bars of her crib for 10 minutes before I get her up from a nap. She has the cutest giggle ever when she gets tickled or turned upside down. She loves to flop on my bed and throw herself onto the pillows.

She loves to read stories and point at pictures. She wants to play with whatever Adri is playing with, much to Adri's chagrin. She can't walk yet but likes to get up and push the chairs in our apartment around the kitchen. We borrowed a walker that she uses too. It's a fire engine that Adri gets to ride while Juliet pushes.

All in all I would say it has been a pretty good year. We all love this cute baby and can't wait to spend another year with her.