Dear {1 year old} Vada

Dear Vada,

Your second year of life was a blur for all of us, but look how much you've changed in that short time!

Your determination is amazing.  You take on this world seriously, complete with a furrowed brow.

You have been riding horses since you were born, pretty much daily. You LOVE them.  You know each of their brush buckets.  You know where to find your little purple helmet.



Everyone loves watching you with the horses.  You're such a big, brave girl in a little body. You don't take sass from those ponies.  Thor is your buddy. You go catch him, brush, ride, take his gear off, brush, take him back to pasture.  All under a watchful eye, but you insist on doing these things yourself. 


Being out on the farm is just your thing.  You've held baby goats, put the chickens away, checked for eggs, fed the bunny, warmed up the horses for clients, and every day, you love to sit and eat with Susie and feed Blossom her treats.  You're neurotic about closing gates and putting everything back in it's place. It's good to have a little neat freak around.


You're also a little builder.  You were obsessed with Rowan's model engine and our "Take-Apart Plane". You are obsessed with anything "pane" (airplane), actually.



 

And you're legit crazy!  Undoubtedly the most daring of the pack.  You are always testing the limits.  I often find you standing on top of the piano leaning against Buddy's cage, or on teetering on top of the toilet seat trying to reach your toothbrush, or on top of the kitchen island swaying while jokingly saying "whoa whoa whoa!"

You love a good selfie. I don't know where you learned to lean in, but you're the selfie queen.


I thought you were going to give up nursing last summer, but you held on and still like your "milties" on demand, though you did start accepting a bottle every now and then.

Besides "milties" you say "moh" (more - generally in reference to food, or riding, or swinging), and "meese" (please). 

You're two now, but the two-nager showed up a few months before you had your birthday. You're so sassy! (And we love it).  There's no question who's the boss around here.