2007 First Baby Soon To Be One Of The Big Kids

Leah Michelle Delgado just wants to be one of the big kids.

After all, the not-quite oneyear old has two older siblings to look up to in Emmanuel, 8, and Lily, 6.

It won't take her long to catch up.

As Leah's parents, Louie Delgado and Kayle Grossheim, Ridgeville Corners, will proudly tell you, she started walking at just nine months.

She's already moved out of her baby cradle. And she refuses to play with her toy phone- she wants to use the real one.

The 20-pound toddler is one step closer to "big kid" status as she gives up her Archbold Buckeye First Baby of 2007 title on New Year's Eve.

Born Jan. 9, 2007 at six pounds, two ounces in Flower Hospital, Sylvania, Leah was named First Baby as the first child born in 2007 to a family living inside the Archbold and Pettisville school districts.

Leah's antics provide much entertainment for her family. "She's very rambunctious," said Kayle. "She's all over the place. Now, she runs if she can."

Laughing, Kayle adds, "Sometimes she trips over her own self."

Leah's mobility means that she's quite the mischief-maker. "Her new thing is we'll sit here, and she walks over and turns off the TV," said Kayle. "I'll turn it back on, and she turns it back off."

One show Leah won't mess with is the cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants." She's a big fan of the theme song.

"She'll stop in her tracks," said Louie. "She'll hear that 'Ohhhhh,' and then she'll come running. She's planted to the TV for the first 45 seconds."

While she quickly loses interest in passive pastimes like TV, Leah is all about activity.

"The next little tomboy right here," said Louie, holding Leah in his lap.

Leah likes to wear Louie's and Emmanuel's baseball caps, and in a line of toys, she'll pick out the motocross bike, he said.

"She's definitely a daddy's girl," said Kayle.

In fact, "dada" is one of the few words Leah says.

Louie's third-shift job allows him to stay home with Leah during the day. He hopes to pass motocross racing on to his daughter, as he has to his son.

Leah and her brother agree in food tastes as well; in fact, the two share a similar ill preference for carrots.

"I only like regular carrots from the ground," said Emmanuel. Leah refuses to eat them at all.

It's the only food she doesn't like. "She's a big eater," said Kayle. "Anything."

With four teeth, Leah is beginning to eat what Emmanuel calls "grown-up foods" and leave her "baba," or bottle, behind.

She still doesn't eat like a grown-up, though, and the family looks forward to watching Leah tackle her first birthday cake.

"She could stuff a cake in her face," said Emmanuel.

"Can I do that?" asks Lily.

Leah's birthday celebration will most likely be a small party with family and grandparents, said Kayle.

Leah's grandparents are Kim and Karen Grossheim, Pettisville, and Ina and Craig Carey, Clovis, N. M.

Her great-grandparents are Ruth Grossheim, Maumee; Marion and Betty Smith, Swanton; and Pat and Celina Quintana, Clovis, N.M.

The family knows Leah will be a big girl soon enough. Until then, she's still making the worst sort of messes. But do her brother and sister help change those dirty diapers?

"No!" says Lily emphatically, grinning and crossing her arms across her chest.

After Leah gives up her 2007 reign, the Archbold Buckeye First Baby of 2008 will be the first child born after midnight, Monday, Dec. 31, 2007, to parents living in the Archbold or Pettisville school districts.

Leah's successor will be featured in one of the first issues of the Archbold Buckeye in 2008 and receive a multitude of gifts from area businesses.

Parents who think their baby may be the Archbold Buckeye First Baby of 2008 should refer to page seven for details and information on how to report the birth to the Buckeye.- Alicia Buckenmeyer