Penny is One Year Old!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Penny Claire!  Our little girl is one year old and we can hardly believe it!  It seemed that our first year with Penny went faster than our first year with Cooper...maybe because we were so busy settling into life with TWO kids.  While we did that, Penny transformed from a tiny, easy-going baby to a spunky yet sweet toddler.  Her personality shined through on Saturday at her birthday party.  Unlike her reserved and unsure brother on his first birthday, Penny seemed to revel in all the noise and attention of the party!  She roamed happily among the houseful of people and squealed when we opened her presents.

Penny has met many milestones in the last few months.  While she has been walking for over two months now, she is now a pro at it!  She loves to go for walks around the yard, and we have to keep a quick gait to keep up with her!  Penny also shows love and concern for her baby dolls, and likes to cause mild trouble when it comes to sharing toys and play space with her brother.  She is also trying to talk!  Words she can use with ease right now include Mama, Da-Da, cuck-cuck (cracker or cookie), dug (dog or duck), yea (as in Yea!) and go-go (yogurt).  Penny loves to be sung to and hear music and tries to dance along.  She even seems to try and mimic some of the words, especially to songs, that we say.  Overall, Penny is a smiley, spirited sweetheart that just loves to be right in the middle of whatever is going on at the moment.

We have not gone in for her one year check up yet, but I can report that she is approximately the same size as her brother was at this age...making her big for a girl.  We will see her exact stats soon.  Poor baby has been teething for what seems like months now!  She now has 11 teeth, with number 12 about to make an appearance.   It seems that I have somewhat of a stubborn child on my hands when it comes to food.  Penny does not particularly care to try new foods, so our list of finger foods is a little short.  (Again I only have Coop to compare her to.)  I am hoping that she will open her mind a little on that front as the weeks go by.

We celebrated Penny's first year with a party at our house on Saturday, her actual birthday.  We were blessed with the presence of many important people to us.  Nonnie came from Houston and helped A LOT with the party preparations.  Grandma and Grandpa Graham (Ma-Mas and Pa-Pa), Penny's little second cousin Charley, and lots of important friends all made us feel special by coming to our party.

Party Pics!

The Spread...it was a kid-centered "luau".

Gifts!  Note Penny right smack in the middle of the mayhem.

One of Penny's sweet gifts...I think it speaks for itself. 

Penny earned her status as a "typical" kid by enjoying the box the toy came in.

Penny was glad for her friends that came to the party!

Ma-Mas, Big Brother, Nonnie, and baby cousin Charley
We are so happy Penny has such wonderful family in her life!

Winding down with Daddy.

We are so excited to watch Penny grow and change in her second year!