(To be read in your best Frosty the Snowman voice) Happy Birthday!

So Elisabeth is a year old today. A year old! That, for the record, is 12 months. 365 days. Incredible! I've said it before and I'll say it again..it's like we've always had her. I was saying earlier that I read the article in People magazine about Sandra Bullock adopting and she said when she saw him it was like, "Oh! There you are!" That's exactly how it is with Lizzy. I don't know what we did without her! So to celebrate her birthday, I'll tell you 20 things about l'il Lu that you may or may not know about her:
1. She is hilarious! She loves doing things to make us laugh like sticking out her tongue or playing peekaboo. What a little sense of humor!
2. She hates wearing all the cute hairbows I love to make for her! In fact, she hates having her hair messed with period. She prefers the krazy Kaveman look. (Spelled with K's to pay homage to the land of my inheritance)
3. She loves wearing Scott's hats. She'll take his hat from his head and put it on her own. Yesterday, she got a hat from her room and brought it to us to put on her. Of course it only lasts for a minute until she yanks it off again.
4. Speaking of yanking things off--she hates wearing socks and will pull them off the second we put them on her feet.
5. She loves music! She's fascinated by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!
6. She also loves dancing, which I (the recovering Baptist) cannot explain. For the last couple of months we've noticed that when she's standing up if she hears music she'll dance. She also does this when she's sitting down. To quote the great Chandler Bing, "Gloria Estefan was right. Sooner or later, the rhythm IS going to get you!"
7. She loves food and would eat all day, everyday if we would let her.
8. This girl LOVES a sippy cup. If she sees a sippy cup or water bottle, chances are she's headed for it. Doesn't matter what is in it, she wants it and I mean NOW.
9. Same for drinks with straws. Although, she's not quite figured out that you're supposed to SWALLOW whatever liquid it is that you've succeeded in sucking up.
10. She wants what she wants when she wants it. Hoo doggy!
11. She's really such a good girl. Unless we're on familiar turf, she's happy to sit quietly and be held by someone she loves.
12. She's got some major attachment issues to Mommy and Daddy. She loves her brother and she likes Aunt Lisa, everyone else she can either take or leave. She'll tolerate them as long as they're not up in her grill. (I'm so gangsta!)
13. She can say "Dad." She CAN say "Mom" but prefers "Dad." Sometimes she says something that I think means "Jack."
14. Speaking of Jack, man oh man! Nobody loves that little boy like his sister. (And vice versa!) They're so close, I hate to think of the stark reality that for a period of time they're going to despise each other until they grow up and remember how much they love one another. She wants to be everywhere Jack is, doing everything that he does. She loves playing with his toys and even wanted to color yesterday because he was. When I drop him off at Preschool, she cries and cries!
15. Speaking of Jack's toys, she likes to drive cars around and make car noises. My dad is so proud.
16. She's got an amazing sense of adventure. She's in the stage where she wants to climb up on everything! Nothing (except someone unfamiliar trying to hold her) really scares her. She loves to be scared, she loves being tossed around...anything that takes her breath away just thrills her. Yikes.
17. She hates anything (except yogurt) that she cannot feed herself. It makes her mad and she smears it in her hair.
18. She gives really awesome slobbery kisses!
19. If you hand her something made of fleece, she'll hold it up to her face and stick her fingers in her mouth like she does at bedtime. She'll do this no matter what time of day it is.
20. When she doesn't get her way, she'll sit down on the floor and put her head on the ground in a really dramatic sort of way. Sigh. Have mercy.

She has single handedly brought more joy and laughter into our family than we have ever known. I was assured I would not be lucky to have 2 really good kids, but so far so good! She is wonderful and even though I know the day rapidly approaches when she's more sass than good and we are going to butt heads like crazy, I love this little girl with unmatched ferocity. I can't wait to see what she grows up to accomplish. I'm reminded of a saying I heard a couple of months ago: "Good women: May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them." I hope we are able to raise her in a way that will enable her to maintain her independence while tempering her spirit. She's going to great and amazing things--if she wants to. This little friend isn't going to do a single thing that isn't her own idea. No wonder I'm so tired!