The Birthday Girl

Also, in all the business of moving, Rachel had her 1st birthday!  Our little St. Patrick's day baby, as you can tell by the pictures that we took.

She really has been a good sport about the whole moving process, which involved a lot of being dropped off with other people while I packed and cleaned.  (Thanks, everyone).  She is a happy little girl and gets plenty of attention anywhere we go.  She love-love-LOVED her cake as you can see!

She stood up all by herself for the first time on her birthday, it was very exciting:

She is creeping along furniture and likes to walk while holding our fingers, but gets so darn excited she can hardly stay upright for the all happy wiggling.
She has 6 teeth, can say mama, dada, ella, uh-oh, ma (more), baba (baby), and most recently GAGAGA! (for Gus, the dog here at our new home).  She can wave hi/bye-bye, give a *tentative* 5, find her nose (and her nostrils!), shake her head 'no,' and dance to any music or rhythm.  Caleb loves her to pieces (really, my most frequent advice is "hug and let go, honey"), Ella likes to pick her up and move her someplace different, and we all have the best time playing peek-a-boo with her.  She can toss a big, soft, ball; has mastered the stairs (mostly); and is almost done with bottles and formula.  Yay, whole milk!  What can I say?  We think she's the best 1-year-old ever!  Happy Birthday Rachel!