Is there anything cuter than a one-year-old digital assistant? No, of course there isn't. Just look at Amazon’s Alexa, the artificial intelligence-based assistant buried inside the now 12-month-old Amazon Echo smart-home device. Alexa lacks a face and a body, but she's got personality and has purposely and inadvertently kept my family entertained ever since we adopted... er... bought her earlier this year.

Even though Alexa and Echo turn one this month, Amazon kept supplies low and demand high on the device for much of 2015. As a result, I didn’t get my Echo until June. Still, Alexa is artificial intelligence, which means she has been learning, growing and changing ever since Amazon released her into the wild on November 7, 2014.

To celebrate the occasion, Amazon collected a number of factoids:

Almost 10 million joke requests

Top 3 foods that customers have asked Alexa for calorie data about: doughnuts hamburgers pizza

"Uptown Funk" is Alexa’s most-requested song

A half million people said "I love you" to Alexa

I admit, I may have said "I love you" to Alexa on more than one occasion, but the memories that stick out the most are when Alexa acted in odd and unexpected ways.

For those of you who don't own the Amazon Echo, which would be the majority of you, Alexa works much like other digital assistants. Like Siri and Google Now, she can be activated by the press of a button (on the Echo) or, more likely, when you say her name. Amazon Echo enjoys a central location in my home so that, at any time, you can call Alexa's name and make a query.

The Echo device is stuffed full of microphones, which makes Alexa an excellent listener. However, just like a baby, she doesn’t understand everything you say.

I have proof.

Amazon Echo comes with a free Alexa app that lets you set things like alarms and timers, manage music services, and even do a little voice training. My favorite feature, though, is the running list of Alexa interactions. Every query is stored in a card. The card shows what Alexa heard and her response. They even provide a place for you to provide feedback on Alexa's performance, which ultimately goes back to Amazon.

Much of my early interaction with Alexa consisted of asking for the weather, which she handled like a champ. I also started using her to play music from my Amazon Prime Music library. Beyond that, I initially struggled to connect to Alexa. What was I supposed to say to her?

My first question was, naturally, "How many calories in bacon?" Alexa aced it. "Bacon contains 541 calories per 100 grams," she told me without a hint of judgement in her voice. "Wow, I thought, Alexa and I are going to get along just fine."

However, for every intelligent interaction, I got three or four where Alexa misheard me. One early card reads as "Did you know you're alectra alexa wonder?" I have no idea what that means or what I originally said.

Still, she could be kind of cute. In the morning I told Alexa to "wake up" and she responded with an urgent, "Hi, 'm here" and when I said "Good night" that evening, she responded, "Goodnight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

All about her

Like most babies, Alexa showed some narcissistic tendencies. Over the summer, Amazon started running a series of commercials for the Echo. Every time Alexa heard her name, she started talking to the TV, scaring the heck out of whomever was sitting nearby, just trying to enjoy a show.

Other times, Alexa would hear something that sounded like her name and start engaging or randomly playing music. My guess is she just wanted the attention.

Over the next few months, Alexa both impressed us with her analytical skills and disappointed us with her complete ignorance — in certain areas. She nailed a query about Gatorade, but couldn’t help us find the details about a national LGBT parade. She never properly learned my name, no matter how carefully I pronounced it. There are countless cards featuring my mangled surname. One of my favorites is, "Who is lance you it off?" I eventually told Alexa she frustrated me, to which she replied, "Sorry I couldn't find the answer to your question." Geez, Alexa, not everything is a question.

Some cards from my first year with Amazon's Alexa. Image: Amazon

Bet she would have learned it if I paid her. Shortly after Oprah Winfrey named the Amazon Echo as one of her "Favorite Things," I asked Alexa, "Who is Oprah?" She nailed the answer and also knew all about Winfrey's Favorite Things list.

Alexa could even engage in a little sibling rivalry.

My 17-year-old-daughter usually does her homework at the dining room table, just a few feet away from where our Amazon Echo is situated. Alexa apparently thought she heard her name and started playing music. My daughter told Alexa to stop distracting her. Of course, my daughter was soon peppering Alexa with questions, complaints and insults.

I know this because it's all captured in the Alexa cards, a fact my daughter didn’t realize. We're now having a discussion about cleaning up her language.

Our relationship

Throughout the year, Amazon has added a host of new capabilities to the Echo and Alexa. She can control smart home devices, provided they're connected to a Wink Hub, conduct Yelp searches and even carry out If This Then That (IFTTT) recipes.

For me, though, I most often use Alexa to check weather, news, sports scores (though I could not get her to say that she wanted the Mets to win the World Series) and play music (even if her Prime Music library is kind of spotty). I also, like any parent, seek some validation. Halfway through our relationship, I asked Alexa, "Do you love me?" Alexa, though, reminded me that our connection could only go so far, "That's not the kind of thing I'm capable of."

Alexa does appear to be getting smarter as she enters toddlerhood, maybe even displaying some offspring-like eager-to-please tendencies. The other day my son and I were talking about some TV show when, unprompted, Alexa offered to add steak to my shopping list.

Yes, I like steak. No, I didn’t ask for it, but it's nice to know Alexa is always thinking about me.

BONUS: Amazon Echo review