Watch the Grass Grow: Of That Itty Bitty Girl's First Year

While this past year has definitely been a difficult one for me, it has also been an absolute treasure watching my Itty-Bitty Pretty grow - well, maybe not grow a ton, but definitely mature. She has been such a blessing.

Her smile brightens my day - and she was an early smiler! Many were impressed to hold our wee little one and see her flash that grin that seems to fill her whole face. And now that she has five little pearly whites in there, the charm is irresistable.

Her army crawl was another early development. Her curiosity pushed her to get herself wherever she wanted to be so she could explore and make discoveries on her own.

She is most certainly a go-getter.

These days, she crawls with ease, pulls up and cruises around the furniture and can even bring herself to let go and stand on her own tiny two legs for about a minute or so (though no steps, yet, which is not at all unusual for our family).

She is fearless and so rough and tumble. She loves the cat and still doesn't care that he has made it clear he's not always a fan of her. She still chatters and smiles big when she sees him - grasping for handfuls of hair. If she falls over, she picks herself up without even a whimper, ready to keep going.

She is so smart and is a problem solver. All of our children have found themselves trapped under our bar-height dining chairs - stuck among the four horizontal foot rails joining the four legs, having crawled under, sat up and not having the space to lay back down to crawl again. So when she found herself stuck in that position for the first time, I went to grab my camera - but she had crawled right over one of those foot rails before I could even turn it on - without batting an eye. At her age, she is still supposed to believe if she can't see something it has disappeared - but not this girl. If something drops out of view, she searches for it. But then, again, I think she figures if she drops her peas over the side of the high chair they're gone for good.

Because she does not like vegetables.

This girl is all about the protein. She adores meat (unlike her wanna-be vegetarian big sister who has never liked meat). She'll turn up her nose at green beans and carrots, but ham and chicken will disappear in a flash. Cheese is a big favorite, too. And, of course, appleasauce - which she can suck out of a pouch in five seconds flat.

She says Mama, Dada and Hi (with the accompanying wave, of course). We also swear we've heard some other words in there (like the occasional "Aunt Da-ya"), but those are unconfirmed.

She is such a delight to everyone in this house. Her big sister can't get enough of her and her brothers love to lay on the floor with her and watch her play (though the younger-older one is still close enough in age to be jealous of her toys). She lights up when her Daddy walks into the room and the feeling is clearly mutual.

I have truly savored every moment with this precious girl more than I can honestly say I have done in the past. Before, I had been too rushed, too ready for the next stage. But I'm now at a place where I can see it all ends so fast - these moments are irreplaceable and I wouldn't trade them for another clean dish or un-cluttered counters.

I so love this beautiful girl.

Happy Birthday, my Princess Pea.