Jerusha Ann Smith: One Year

Tuesday, March 15th our baby girl turned 1. It was a fun and exciting day. We had a "small" party for Jerusha, inviting only our local family, an event that I hope to capture in my next post.

When Wesley and I married I couldn't wait to share our love with a family of our own. I didn't have long to wait (although at the time I felt like I did) and within three months of marriage God blessed  us with the pregnancy of our first baby.
Jerusha has been such a blessing from the days of her easy infancy to her toddling chatter filled days of recent. She is a constant ray of sunshine in my life; something that I, a person prone to selfishness, depression, and the like, needed. One of my sister-in-law's has summed it up right-on in saying "Jerusha is exactly what God knew you needed." 

In Jerusha's first year of life she fell out of a chair twice, her high chair once, and never out of a bed so she has had minimal damage. 
For her first 5 or 6 months she grew so fast it seemed every time I turned around I was packing up outgrown clothes and unpacking new ones. She plateaued around 6 months though and now just maintains her weight. I think she's showing her Smith genes as she seems pretty tall. 
We've been working on weaning as I'd like to not tandem nurse and every morning and most nights she nurses but through the day time she eats her own plates of lunch and dinner, snacks, and bottles of milk. 
Jerusha was well traveled in her first year of life going to Alabama within her first week of life, Ohio, New York, and St.Louis by 4 months old, Holden Beach NC in month 6, again to Ohio this past  fall, and a few small trips to local state parks. 
Throughout my pregnancy with her and her first year I faithfully kept a journal, writing her letters and updates on her milestones and adventures. It has been so much fun to watch her develop from the helpless infant into the very independent let-me-try-myself stage she has reached now. 
Wesley and I are trying to find the right balance of punishment for disobedience while still letting her learn from making her own mistakes, the thing I have the hardest discerning are the matters of attitude; how does one know for sure when a one year old is just being plain old rebellious or if they're simply curious?! 

Here are the monthly pictures for Jerusha Ann Smith's first year of life. (I had hoped to put them in a nice little collage but can't seem to figure it out.)