Suzie -Q turns 1!

Here is my little Suzie-Q. This is a cute clip of her, but watching this is a lot like watching baseball. There is a lot of down-time for a little bit action. But be patient- I think it is worth it!

She turned one this past weekend and in honor of her birthday I am listing the top 10 things I love about Suzie.

1. She is a bald little Q-ball. Like Buddha statues, we rub her head for luck.

2. Her bedtime is 7pm and she sleeps until 7:30 am. It is heaven. Although I didn't factor this into the planning of her birthday party. I had it at 7pm. So she was the first to leave the party at 7:45pm!

3. She loves food and I mean loves it. I have to make more food for dinner now that she eats what we eat. And don't even think of taking away anything sweet she is eating. Hell hath no fury like a Suzie without her ice cream!

4. She loves music. I play the piano each week for the 1st grade and she goes with me. She sings and claps along. Everyone loves it.

5. She is very observant. Nothing gets past her- especially food-stuffs-refer back to #3. She is a little "detective-missy" in training.

6. She loves her siblings- well for the most part. Katie can get her all worked up, but lets' face it- who can't Katie get all worked up! Its a gift she has. But back to Suzie...

7. She is my little octupus. I remember a few years ago I got an email about how to prepare for having kids. It was the funniest email and now I wished I had saved it. Anyway it had suggestions like taking a cat and dog and buckling them in car seats and asking them to get along and also making sure you had separate treats for each of them, so they wouldn't fight. Another one said to get an octupus and try to dress it in 3 layers- a diaper, onesie and outfit. This fits Suzie perfectly. She squirms all over the place while I am trying to dress her. It is amazing how 4 appendages can suddenly seem like 8!

8. She is a blanket baby. I have never had a kid who needed a blankie to go to sleep, but she definitely does. You could give her any blanket or even a scrap of cloth... she has even done it with socks she finds lying around... and her thumb immediately goes in her mouth. She is the easiest baby I've had to put to sleep. Give her a blanket, lay her in her crib and that's it. Well she is a fourth child. I was due for some kind of "parental windfall" so to speak!

9. She is my little bottom feeder. Who needs a dog when you have Suzie. She crawls around eating bits of stale cracker, shriveled apple and dried cheese off the floor. Sometimes while I am sweeping she crawls over to my pile and searches through it for a little snack. Its almost like she is saying, "Oh, look my mother put all my snacks here together in a pile for me. How nice of her!" Oh, stop with the disgusted looks. Again she is a fourth child and I'm a recovering perfectionist. No one's been poisoned, yet!

10. She has this "stink-eye" face that I have yet to catch on camera. She does it so quickly that unless I have my camera in my hand at the time, it is gone by the time I think about getting it. In fact all my girls have done this face. They squintch up one eye and flare their nostrils. Suzie has added a lip curl to it. It is a very endearing quality, but I have found it is a little window into their future personality. And unfortunately I have been on the other side of that window with my other two girls and if you know my girls at all- it is crazy! Pray for me!

Happy Birthday Suzie! I love you!

One other quick story about the day- Finn was helping me with Suzie while I was cleaning the house. I asked him to change her diaper and get her dressed. I called out to him, "Put something cute on her for her birthday." He replied, with a sly little smile, "Like her birthday suit." It is fun to see his personality developing.