Birthday post

This morning at 3:27 am, Penelope turned one! I half expected her to wake up around that time, but she slept until 6:30 which makes that three nights in a row of her sleeping completely through the night (8-6:30 or later) in her own crib. This is made of awesome.

There's a lot I wanted to say today since it's her first birthday, and I've probably been planning this blog post since her birth. This means that I won't get around to talking about any of it and will have to cut the post short since I'll be blubbering like some hormonal weepy lady (wait, I *am* a hormonal weepy lady thanks to New Baby).

Some things to note as Penny turns one:
*Talking - up a storm, she has a few words but her favorite by far is Dog, which she pronounces with a hard G... it sounds like dawG.
*Speaking of the dog, she loves that damn animal. This is good news for Harley-Quinn since she's an annoying pain in the butt; but at least the baby loves her.
*Pen has 10 teeth - the top & bottom four plus two lower molars. The top molars are starting to get closer to the top of the gums and I won't be surprised if she ends up with nearly all her teeth by the time New Baby arrives.
*Penny CAN walk, she just prefers to hold your hand. She's taken over a dozen steps on her own, but only when you trick her into doing it. Once she realizes that she's doing it by herself she sits down and crawls. I know it'll come, and sooner rather than later, but I was really hoping she'd be walking confidently on her own by her birthday. Oh well, she'll do it when she's ready.
*Sleep is getting better and better... she's never been an awful sleeper so I'm thankful for that.
*She is seriously the happiest baby I have ever met. And that's not an exaggeration - she's always smiling. She laughs at the drop of a hat. She only cries when she's really hungry or really overtired (although most of the time when she's tired she laughs uncontrollably, which is hilarious). She loves other kids, to flirt with old people, and really anyone who pays attention to her. She's just happy, and I'm so incredibly grateful for that.
*She loves to read. LOVES. She'll read by herself, but she'll also read on her own; turning the pages of the book either silently (i.e. reading to herself), or babbling (reading to us).
*If you ask her to get her book, a ball, the green frog, pink kitty, monkey, xylophone, binky, and a dozen other things she will go get it and bring it to you. She learns more and more words each day!
*She dances, to ANYTHING. Commercial music, the theme song to ESPN's Sports Center, the annoying music from her various annoying toys, New Baby's heartbeat - anything. She also loves to make music, banging on drums, her xylophone, pianos, shaker eggs, guitars, you name it and she'll attempt to make music on it (she uses my breasts as drums, which is both amusing and a little painful at times).
*She's in a size 24months to 2T (depending on the clothes manufacturer) and wears size 5 in shoes. She's a giant :)
*She weighs 28 lbs and is impossible for me to accurately measure.
*Her eyes change from brown to gray... I do hope they end up gray, but brown would be pretty too
*Both Bryan and I are so completely in love with her.

I'm sure I'm forgetting at least a dozen things... but I'm starting to get weepy (which I will blame on pregnancy hormones) and leave you with two pictures. One of her right after birth and one of her a few minutes ago (attempting to escape through the dog door). Happy Birthday Penelope Lane!!!