Afton's First Birthday!

I can hardly believe it's been a whole year since we welcomed this little bundle of sunshine into the world.  I wish I could tell you of the moments of amusement, laughter, exasperation, triumph, tenderness, and growth that we have experienced over this first year of Afton's life.  I wish that by posting these pictures of Afton I could communicate what a sweet, playful, spunky character she is, or how my heart nearly bursts when I look at those big bright eyes of hers.  As I don't think any words of mine will do these things justice, I'll just post some pictures and tell you about some of her traits at 12 months old, and hope you catch a small glimpse of the joy she brings us every day.  

 Afton's loves:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Eating
• Waking Paisley after naps
• Running up to Daddy when he gets home
• The bath tub (mostly dumping water out of it)
• The word 'Dada", over and over again
• Throwing food from the high chair to the floor
• Swinging at the park
• Anything Paisley is playing with
• Flushing/opening/playing in the toilet
• Unraveling toilet paper
• Being held & cuddling
• Growling like a lion cub

Afton started walking a few weeks ago, and she's getting more and more confident.  It's so fun to watch her beaming smile of triumph when she gets to places she wants to go.

 Random facts about Afton:

• She LOVES her sister Paisley.  They fight over toys all the time, but they're the best friends in the world.
• She *still* wakes up once a night, nurses and goes back to sleep.  This is a HUGE improvement, even from 2 months ago, so I'm happy as can be.  
• Her first word was "Mama", but she's traded that one in for "Dada", and can't get enough of it.
• She loves to give and blow kisses, making a loud "BAH" sound.  And lately she just loves to say BAH, kiss or no kiss.
• We're just learning that she's pretty terrified of animals.