forty-nine weeks new

You were so strong and clever.

And you spent the majority of your days

standing up, starting to cruise around the furniture,

and testing yourself to see how long you could stand independently.

Having done it the first few times by accident

you were definitely beginning to do it on purpose.

You would pull up on the furniture,

sway around a bit to find your balance point

and then let go.

You did it with the cutest "Aren't-I-clever?" look on your face.

Your face seemed to be changing a lot

and people who hadn't seen you in a few weeks were commenting on it.

You were definitely losing the podgy baby face

and your face was looking longer and more little girl like.

And with your top teeth finally starting to show

the way you were moving your mouth was changing too.

We had been worried that your teeth were going to change your gorgeous gummy smile

but your big beaming grin was still the loveliest thing.

We had set up a smash cake shoot in preparation for your first birthday

and you absolutely loved.

At first you looked at the big pretty cake

and looked totally puzzled.

And then you tasted the frosting . . .

and then you were off.

You loved the sugary icing and cake.

In fact you took eating the cake so seriously

that you forgot to smile.

Not that it mattered,

you looked gorgeous with your messy face.

Cake smash photos courtesy of Katie Ellison Photography.