And A Half!

                                                          Dear Lydia,
This week we celebrated your half birthday!  It's hard to believe you are already halfway to 2!  You are such a big girl now--using so many words and trying to say most things that you hear, eating pretty much anything we put in front of you (your favorites are cheese, fruit, noodles, and chocolate), getting pretty much anywhere you need to go (some favorites are your brother's room, up on the coffee table, watching "tweet tweets" out the window, recently up onto the kitchen chairs, and into your family's arms for big hugs!).  You are still such a sweet and happy girl!  You always have a hug or "love you" for your family, give Daddy the best send-off and welcome home every day, and must have your hugs before you go to bed.  You have energy and smiles to spare, and have a great laugh.  You already have wonderful manners; it is so cute and makes us so happy.  You always say thank you, even when we change your diaper (which usually goes something like this: "Thank you, Mama!  Thank you... poop.  Thank you, Mama, poop.")  You have even picked up on "sorry" and "excuse me" and use them appropriately.  One of your new favorite things to say is "oops!"  You aren't sure if you should call yourself "A-djia" or "Baby" because your brother still insists on calling you GirlBaby most of the time.  You love your family so much and we love you!  Anything you see is given a role in a family, either a mama, daddy, baby, "O-ah", or Lydia.  I would say your favorite thing to do is look at books!  Right now your favorite is an "animal encyclopedia" that was mine when I was a little girl.  You are getting pretty good at saying many of the animal names (and of course if they are a dada, mama, or baby).  Some of your other favorite things are: wrestling and chasing, coloring, dressing up, playing with your babies, dancing, watching Little Einsteins (which  you call "pat pat.")

 You still absolutely adore your brother, and he is a very good brother to you.  (You know quite a bit about Star Wars and Rescue Bots thanks to him.)

Now, when I say we celebrated you half birthday, we actually did celebrate your half birthday.  Your brother and I love to throw parties!  We even had a cake and a half, which I wanted to do but Noah though of by himself too. :)

I will always be the crazy and slightly over-the-top party and picture mom that celebrates things like half birthdays.  I hope you guys are okay with that.  It's not just an excuse to make cake and get out decorations (although that is fun).  It is because I really, truly think you are worth celebrating.  I say my life is better with you in it, and I honestly mean it.  (Even when at a year and a half you are just starting to sleep through the night, like to stand up on furniture and watch me come running, and could win awards for drama.)  I call you a blessing because that is what you are.  When I say there isn't any other way I would rather spend my days, it is because right here watching you grow and being the one to take care of you is exactly where I want to be, and it is all worth it.  So get ready to have lots more pictures taken and more half birthdays and anything else we come up with celebrated.  We are so glad that you are part of our family, and I love being your Mama.  Happy Half Birthday, Lydia.  I love you more than I know how to express.