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| My three girls sharing the umbrella stroller in France |
My Dearest Violette,
Of all my children's first years, this first year has gone by the fastest. I feel as though I missed a lot of things you did that I was fully aware of with the other kids because of all the changes that have taken place in our lives this past year, but the one thing that hasn't changed is the love that I feel for you every time I see your smiling face toddling toward me.
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| Can you not love a little squishy baby |
You have many nick-names. I call you "Vivi Lu", Lucy calls you "Vio" and your siblings still call you "the baby" or just "baby". I try to call you Violette as much as possible because I just love your French connection. In fact, when we were in France this summer, everyone was in love with your French name, fire red hair and your extremely clear blue/white eyes. Bea, Clementine and you all have blue eyes and with every child, the blue just kept getting lighter and lighter. I don't know if blue eyes could get much lighter than yours. Unfortunately, you also have a developing under bite like your sister Bea, so some serious braces or surgery might be in your future. So sorry little one!
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| Eye Close up |
Violette, you are much like your brother, Henry in many ways, You have the same hair as he did, you have a similar round head, and you have similar temperament. You are very active and now that you started walking, you don't want to do anything but walk around. You also walked at exactly 11 months of age just like your brother, while your two sisters walked at 12 months. You are extremely vocal and you already act like you have your own language, which is also the same as Henry.
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| Posing with Pinocchio in Florence |
Vivi, you love toys that can shake and you have so much fun walking around the house banging on a cake pan with a wooden spoon with your sister. In fact, you really love music and anytime you hear music you start to dance. I think you see your sisters dancing to music all the time, so you join along. We have family music time and you readily join in the fun, banging on drums, playing the baby piano or shaking things. Just like your siblings you love singing and I have already heard you start singing your own little tunes in the car. Now, I have four separate radio stations to listen to at the same time as I drive along. No other music sounds sweeter to my ears.
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| Vivi riding a very strange baby swing in France with holes that babies could easily fall right through |
Our house has three sets of two steps that go down to our living room, garage and off of our deck. I was dreading putting the baby gates up but just after you learned to crawl, you learned how to crawl down all three sets of stairs, head first and has never even had a fall yet! You also love to crawl up our long stairs but after almost falling down the stairs a while back, you never attempt to crawl down them. I'm so glad to be baby gate free!
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| Violette posing with the most darling Asian boy we met on the street in Florence |
Violette, you love to eat any kind of food. You really love tomatoes and any kind of fruit, but will even eat what the other kids will not. You eat a lot of food and you have basically had diaper rash your whole life because you poop so much! You have an opinion about what you want to eat and get very jealous if the kids are eating candy or a Popsicle and I usually have to cave in and give you some. I agree, it's not fair little one!
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| Posing on a giant fake ship that was used for an old movie. This is what we did when we couldn't find the church one Sunday:( |
Your siblings are obsessed with you and they are constantly trying to carry your places, hug you, make you lay down and put blankets on you, put you in doll furniture. I have to say, you're not a very good sport and you cry even at the sight of Bea. You don't mind Henry so much and Clementine is slowly getting on your bad list. Clementine usually sits on you or is holding your legs as you try to crawl away. You are loved by three sets of grandparents and many cousins. You and your sisters make up 1/2 of all the girl cousins in your extended family and everyone fights over who gets to hold you.
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| Vivi dancing to an all young boy band on the street in Chamonix. It was like the Jonas Brothers all over again. |
One thing I wish you did is give me hugs. You are so stiff and don't EVER hug me or put your head on my shoulder unless you're asleep. When you're sick you lay on my shoulder and that's always the silver lining to you being sick is that I actually get some snuggle time with you. Henry was also the exact same way, so I'm not too worried because he's always hugging me and wanting to snuggle now. So, I can't wait to snuggle with you someday
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| Violette eating peaches when we went peach picking. She LOVES peaches. You can see her under bite pretty well in this shot. Poor thing. |
Looking back on this year I have to mention that you were the only baby that I actually co-slept with, only because the closet was already taken up by Clementine. Justin left the bed after a few nights, so for about 6 months you slept on the pillow next to me, but I can't sleep snuggling, so you just slept on your side and I slept on my side, which I'm not sure actually qualifies as co-sleeping. You are my worst sleeper because I had to wait until you were 7 months old to teach you to sleep through the night and you still wake up frequently and have a hard time putting yourself back to sleep since you've been tended to every time you cried. It didn't help taking you to Europe for a month where you got even more attention at night so you wouldn't wake everyone up in tiny apartments.
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| Sleeping in the bike seat in Luca, Italy |
You crawled at 9 months, stood up at 9.5 months unassisted and you walked at 11 months. You have fire red hair, very light blue eyes, your body and walking style remind me of a baby gorilla, you have the largest head of all my kids(which explains the constant bruises on her forehead), and you are a walking maniac. You are a survivor, you constantly smile with your underbite, and every time I see you, you melt my heart. I love you little one and I am so excited for this next eventful year of your life. Happy Birthday Vivi Lu!
