Sweet 16!

Tia was my smallest baby. She weighed 5 and a half pounds and the nurses were always bugging me to wake her up and feed her because otherwise she would "go downhill". Tia must have heard their dire warnings and turned into a good eater. The Dr. told me once that she should not need to be fed at night because she was plenty big. Derek likes to tease her about having been square shaped -- but really she was just a round cute baby and a healthy looking toddler and now she's a beautiful 16 year old.

The first picture above was taken after her surgery (she had a urachal cyst removed at 2 weeks) and seems to have caught her at a wild moment. She was not good at sleeping when she was a baby but became excellent at it as a toddler. I felt guilty for not seeing her more because she loved her crib so much. She took two two hour naps for quite a while and only quit napping when she was five -- and that was an act of willpower because she decided she was too big.
Having a smiley Tia around has always been an excellent thing. We've loved her smile ever since she first shared it with us.
Those of you who have known Tia for a long time might remember that she used to cringe and cry if she was ever singled out for attention -- especially in a group. She changed as she grew up though. She took dance and always looked comfortable performing and now she has discovered that attention isn't so bad and that she has a knack for making people smile.
We have a quote on our white board right now written by Trisa so we could all enjoy what Tia said -- which was: "I can't drink ever in front of anyone, unless I'm by myself." Some things she says are funny on purpose -- some not so much -- but she laughs at both. I loved her last piano recital when she forgot the last chord so she made one up (it sounded not right), smiled really big and bowed. That is a good way to be.
This is Tia's room. She turns sixteen and she already has a date lined up for Saturday to the prom. I'll put on pictures of her looking beautiful in her dress then. Tia had to pop quite a few balloons to see exactly what Dalton said -- but she knew he was coming and knew what he was asking too. She quite enjoyed decorating his room in return.

Tia is a beautiful girl who helps us all to be happy. Yes, she occasionally gets grumpy, but she seems to be quick to recover her good humor. I love Tia. Happy birthday!