Happy 1st Birthday!

Tomorrow (October 15) is Payton's birthday but since we will be busy celebrating, I thought I would go ahead and make her birthday post and pictures.  I'll post again next week with pictures from her celebration.

Beware, super mushy gushy letter below!

Payton,

For you the past year has been a lifetime but for me it has gone by in the blink of an eye.  And all I want to do is hold tight to each passing moment as they quickly slip through my finger tips.  I feel like you were just born yet I can’t clearly remember what life was like before you arrived.  I’m glad I have kept this blog for you because just as quickly as the moments pass by, so do some of the memories and I don’t wish to forget a single memory of this past year.  You have grown so much and every time I take you out into public some stranger comments on how beautiful you are.  And you are so much more beautiful on the inside, which is hard to believe!  You are such a sweetheart and your Daddy and I are both just head over heals in love with you.  We think the world of you and nothing you ever do in your life will change that.  And I have no doubt that you will make us proud because you already do.  It doesn’t matter what else is going on, when you smile at me it feels like everything in the world is perfect.  I’m not sure what else to tell you other than you will probably not fully know how much I love you until you have children of your own-  and then you will know.  Happy birthday sweet girl!

Love,

Mommy

Quick update on things:

The outdoor pictures on this blog were taken by Charles and I a couple of weeks ago.  A few of the pictures were taken at the San Luis Hotel but most were taken at the Hotel Galvez.  Payton has only been in grass a couple times in her life and she was a little freaked out about it at first.  The pictures of her sitting in the grass, making faces, just crack me up.  I like them even more than if she were sitting there smiling!  (Bad mommy!)  lol  Payton actually didn’t mind wearing the party hat and we kept it on her as we walked down Seawall which got quite a few smiles from people passing by.  

This past weekend we went to Portrait Innovations to get her 1 year portraits taken.  She did a good job, as always, posing for the camera.  We brought balloons and a smash cake for the pictures.  This was the first time Payton has had cake.  She stuck her hand in it right away, but didn’t try to eat any of it.  She ended up licking a little icing off her finger, made a face, and then a gagging sound to show us that she didn’t like the taste.  We’ll give her a cupcake tomorrow for her birthday and will see if she has the same reaction to it.

This week we got a second opinion from a very experienced pediatric ENT doctor, who is also a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, and she too recommended that Payton get tubes since she’s had fluid in her middle ear for at least 3 months now.  She said it is not likely to drain on its own at this point and all we’re doing is risking continued developmental delays by not getting the tubes.  So we have now scheduled with the ENT that we’ve been seeing, and whom we really like, surgery for November 3^rd at UTMB in Galveston.  I’m pretty nervous about my baby going under anesthesia but know that this is one of those things that is going to be harder on me than it will be on Payton.  We had to wait 50 minutes to see the doctor this week and Payton sat quietly in my lap the entire time.  She does, however, love to wave and say “Haaaaa” (“Hi”) to people, so she waved numerous times to everyone in the waiting room.

As far as Payton’s walking goes, I thought she would be walking on her own by her birthday but since her birthday is tomorrow I guess she’s not going to quite make that deadline.  She is, however, taking steps when we encourage her to and will probably be walking independently very soon.

I can’t believe it’s been a year now since Payton was born.  When did the years start flying by like this?  I must be getting old!  I can’t wait for Payton’s birthday tomorrow and I’m hoping she has a great day!  I’ll post later with an update and pictures from her birthday.  Until then, happy birthday Payton!