Riley One Year

Riley is ONE year old.

I can't believe it. It's been a blessing of a year. She is MORE than amazing and David and I are MORE than proud to be her parents.

She's growing like a weed and absorbing life like a sponge. I always say every stage is my favorite stage but honestly and truly, THIS is my favorite stage. She is so fun, so interactive, just so neat to sit back and watch her. She takes control a lot in this family setting, not in an unhealthy way. We just kind of let her roam the house and explore. I've heard so many parents steer me away from that.
"You are in control."
"Your run the house."
"You set the rules."
"You tell her her boundaries."

Here's our problem with that: WE'VE already learned a lot in life and explored all the pantries in this house.... She hasn't and I am not a parent that will take a learning opportunity away from my child. Now if it looks like she might get hurt, duh I will not let her do whatever it is she wants to do but I am not going to stop her from growing and learning things. She is not confined to one room, she has toys in almost every room in the house. Not really mine or David's doing. More so hers. She crawls around with a toy and leaves it there. It's like a treat for her the next time she crawls back into that room, there's that toy. And she gets all excited, takes it somewhere elses and the cycle repeats. What's the harm in that? NONE.... Other than the fact that occasionally David or I step on it or kick it or trip on it and say a few choice words about how we didn't pick it up. But that's just part of having a baby that's on the move and doesn't yet know how to clean up behind herself. If she's anything like her aunt or me...It MIGHT take a while. Darcy and I were not the greatest at that either. And that's okay. And I know that.

I cannot believe how sweet this full year has been. David and I still look at her and think of all the great things she has taught us. She is still teaching us. oh and she is SO fun. I just love her.

Happy Late Birthday Princess. your daddy and I love you lots!