Paula Doll: One Fun Year

Dear Paula,

I have had so much fun getting to know you this past year. Here is a little bit about you, at age one:

You love being silly. Sometimes you crack yourself up by telling an incomprehensible joke, and other times you get your sisters giggling with your funny babblings and gestures. Your little gap-toothed smile, bouncing body, and clapping hands have added tremendous joy to our family.

You also love being studious. Often you are most content sitting on the floor with a pile of board books. Your little hands eagerly flip from one page to another, and your eyes gaze intently at the pictures, no matter how many times you have seen them before. Occasionally you seem to think there are not enough piles of books on the floor for you, and in those moments you enjoy pulling books one by one off of your sisters' bookshelf.

Finally, you love to eat. The image of you transferring finger foods from your high chair tray to your mouth has been compared to a vacuum cleaner suctioning debris off of a floor. When it is time to eat, you really mean business, and very little food goes to waste, especially if it is fruit, cooked carrots, or spaghetti with red sauce.

Here are some things you say:

uh-oh
no
na-na = night night
hi-da = hi Daddy
guh-kuh = drink
key-key = blankie
wutza = what's that?
kuh-kaw = Mika
sis = sister
izzin = raisin
oof-oof = animals or babies
let-go = let it go
ouf = Olaf
moh = moo

We celebrated your first birthday with a cow cake. You loved shoving that in your face and licking your fingers for several minutes afterward. You cried when it was time to wipe your hands clean. Hope you liked your party, anyway.

We love you, Paula Doll! Happy Birthday.