Happy New Year!

Esther is 1 year old now - it's hard to believe that she has been with us for 1 year already. She had a fun-filled 1st birthday party, with grandparents and great-grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and almost her entire church family present. Esther wasn't sure what to do with her presents at first, but Dad helped her to unwrap them. After awhile, she got the hang of it. She was so cute! She was so happy with each single toy that she got, that she didn't even care about opening the next present. She sure got a lot of toys though... Mom baked Esther cupcakes - Esther wasn't sure what to do with her cupcake at first, she just mushed the frosting in between her fingers until Mom showed her that she was supposed to eat it. Then she dug in. Mom had to drag her off with Esther's aunts to the bathtub to clean Esther off... :-) Mom had a duckie theme for Esther's birthday, since Esther goes to sleep with a stuffed ducky every night. Esther says "duck duck" when she sees duckies.
Esther started sleeping all the way through the night sometime around 11-12 months. Hooray!!! She goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps until 8:30, and then takes a nap from 1-? (sometimes 3 or 4). Esther is such a GOOD GIRL. She is so easy to put to bed. She gets milk from Mama, then Dada takes her upstairs to change into her p.j.'s and read some books (she loves books). Then Dada lets her turn off the light, and she lays her head down on Dada's shoulder. Dada probably wouldn't even have to rock her much before she would go to sleep on her own now - but Dada is spoiled from rocking her so much before and likes to have his cuddle time with Esther (about the only time she holds still).
Esther has a calendar of puppies and kitties on her wall that her great-grandpa Mathews gave her. She really likes it, and gets excited whenever she sees it.
Esther had a lot of fun at Christmas-time. We went to the Smokies to stay in a cabin with Kristin, Ed, Mallory, Leah, Drew and Grandpa Van. We stayed for a whole week! It was a blast. Dad was busy chasing Esther around and keeping her out of trouble. Esther had fun playing with Mallory and playing with her new toys. The gang went out and bought a HUGE Christmas tree that Esther really enjoyed. We went to a candlelight Christmas service at a church in Gatlinburg that was really neat. It was a relaxing time, but went by WAY too fast.
We came home and celebrated Christmas with Andy's parents on New Years Eve and New Years Day. Esther had a lot of fun there too, and got a ton more presents. She slept great in the pack 'n' play in Mom and Dad's bedroom.
Now Esther is 13 months old and is really a pro at walking. She is starting to jabber more. She can sign "milk". Her first word over Christmas break was "hat" - she likes to pull Dad's hat off his head. She calls food "ummm". She is starting to sign "more". She seems to call everything "Dada", even Mama! We can point to Molly and say "Mama", and Esther will say "Dada!". She likes to give hugs. Esther likes to help Dad feed Rascal. When Dad comes home or if someone comes to the house to visit Esther, she will run away huffing and puffing with excitement. She is such a silly girl.
We dedicated Esther to God at church last Sunday - January 17th. It was an emotional day for Dad.
I am so proud of Esther and so thankful to God for her. She truly is a miracle after what Molly went through over 2 years trying to have a baby. God could not have given us a more beautiful, happy and loving daughter than Esther. She is so easy to take care of, and now that she sleeps through the night she is like the perfect child. She never gets sick and is rarely cranky - as long as she gets the food and sleep that she needs. :-) I enjoy every second I get to spend with Esther.