Georgia & Palmer: February 2007

The Girl Loves Her Daddy!

Nothing To See Here, Folks. Just A Nekked Baby And Her Dog.

Master Of The Sippie Cup

(sorta)

Rootin' For Tony Stewart (#20 Home Depot Chevy)

I know you were disappointed in the outcome of this year's Daytona 500. I'm sure if Tony would have known you wore your #20 onesie, he'd have tried harder not to wreck.

Happy Fun Wagon Time!

Your grandma bought you a wagon for your birthday. It was a gift she always wanted to buy your daddy, but never did. So she was mighty proud that she got to buy you your first wagon.

Helping daddy and grandma put it together.

Pancho test drove it to make sure it was safe enough for you.

Your inaugural ride with grandma and daddy.

I think you like it!

Walking Fun!

You played the cutest game with your grandma this weekend. First you would climb up on your big girl chair, turn around and sit down. Then you'd slide off the chair to stand up, walk across the room and then fall into a hug with your grandma. It was one of the cutest things you've ever done, which is saying a lot because you do a lot of cute things.

WALKING!

We had a very exciting Valentine's evening. You took your first steps!!! It was absolutely adorable. You stood up, shuffled your feet a little and took off. Ten smile-laden steps later, you bent over and caught yourself with your hands. We weren't sure what to expect, but you just turned around and got back up. Actually, you were so excited about getting back up for another try that you practically jumped and fell right back on your toosh.

I don't think I've ever seen you so excited! You kept getting up, taking a couple of steps, then falling slowly back down. Then you'd get up again and try it all over again. A couple of times you took a walking intermission to speed crawl back and forth with excitement.

No pictures yet...we were too excited to grab the camera.

Telling Me All About Your Sippy Cup

Playing In The Bookcase

Pretty!

Very Expressive Talker

Cute Thing You Did Today

Your daddy was feeding you toast and jelly for breakfast today when you did an absolutely adorable thing. Instead of messily stuffing small bites into your mouth like you usually do, you delicately picked up each piece to inspect it for jelly coverage. If there wasn't enough jelly on the piece of toast, you tossed it over the side of your high chair for the dogs and moved on to a more jellied piece.

Two New Teeth!

After two days of fighting me, you finally let me stick my finger in your mouth to see if your top two teeth had come in. They did! We've been waiting several months for their appearance (seriously, we thought they were going to be here in time for Thanksgiving). Nothing to see just yet, but I can definitely feel two new chompers.

Also, you were separation anxiety-free when I dropped you off at school this morning. YAY!

The Wonderful World Of Separation Anxiety

You were a lot of fun on the drive to day care today. We usually have the radio or a CD playing, but you were so chatty that I turned it off and had a nice little conversation with you. When we arrived at school, you practically jumped out of your car seat and smiled all the way down the hall to your classroom.

I handed you over to Miss LaKeisha like always. She put you on the floor next to your classmates to play and you immediately started crying. At first we thought you were hurt, so Miss LaKeisha handed you back over to me. You calmed down but looked at me with your sad puffy eyes and pouty lip, characteristics that I usually find adorable but today broke my heart. I realized that at that moment, you entered the age of separation anxiety.

I've read a lot about separation anxiety in preparation for this day (that I hoped would never come), so I knew the best thing for both of us was for me to leave. It was absolutely heartwrenching to walk down the long hallway and out the door while you were crying out for me.

I waited a whole 45 minutes before calling to check on you. You were, of course, having a grand time playing with your friends. When I picked you up your teachers said that you had a great day and even napped well for them. You probably don't remember anything about the incident. I, on the other hand, am already stressed about dropping you off tomorrow.

In-Studio

We realized recently that, while we take a ton of photos of you, we rarely take "professional" photos of you. So in honor of your birthday today, we set up the studio and took some official-looking photos for the records. Here's the result.

3:03 AM: You Were Exactly One Year Old When This Photo Was Taken

I can't believe you're one year old today! This time last year we were in the hospital holding you, learning how to feed you, and memorizing your features. Now you play peek-a-boo, blow kisses, clap your hands and signal for a touchdown when we say "touchdown, Georgia" (sorry, Marc).

We may be crazy, but we feel like we're having conversations with you these days. You don't say things with any regularity, but there are times I swear I hear you respond with words to the things I say. I even thought I heard you say "I love you" when I strapped you in your car seat last week. Today we think you said "Lefty."

We think you're pretty cool!

Your First Birthday Party!

I really wanted to make your first birthday special. My mother always made me a strawberry flavored birthday cake (my favorite), so I spent hours baking a decorating a Winnie the Pooh-shaped birthday cake (sorry, but they didn't have a Piglet-shaped cake pan).