You are a year old! Serioulsy?!? A year! This year has probably gone by faster than any other in my memory. I think I will refer to you as 12 months because it just doesn't sound as old. But, no matter how I spin it, I look at you and know you are not a baby now. You are an independent, "do it myself", walking, talking, toddler. And you are a good one!
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| Happy Baby |
I never managed to get your 11 month letter written. I'm sorry. It's not that your 11th month wasn't memorable, but rather that we were too busy. The day you turned 11 months you were sick with a nasty stomach bug, and that night we left for Tennessee for Nanny's funeral (Daddy's Grandma). We stayed 9 days. Then we were home a week and went again for Nannan's funeral (My Great Aunt) for 3 days. Then to Nonnie and Grandpa's for 3 days for Thanksgiving. Like I said, a busy month.
In the midst of all that, you have not slowed down one bit. In fact you have taken off. The day before you turned 11 months you took your first steps (6 in a row... I didn't count the 1 and 2 random steps). While we were in TN you practiced a lot with Grandma's walker. Very cute. And now, you walk as much, if not more, than you crawl. Everywhere. There's no stopping you.
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| multitasking |
You are not very interested in climbing these days. Walking has pretty much got your full attention. And walking toward anything you are not supposed to touch is the icing on the cake. I spend a big part of the day removing you from these situations and telling you no. I usually hold both of your hands and ask you to look at me, which you admittedly refuse. This often turns in to rolling your head back, falling on the floor, and looking everywhere but at me. Honestly, its really hard not to laugh. Then you eventually cave and I tell you not to touch (the humidifier, the blinds, Daddy's computer, and Daddy's x-box controller are the main items of issue) and then we go on about our playing.
Playing is hard work these days. Free play mostly involves you walking around holding toys, moving toys from one container to another, and looking at books. You love Independent Play right now. You either help me pick out toys or stand by your crib waiting to get in while I pick out toys. You stay in there about 30 minutes playing and listening to Gospel Duck and when I come get you you are usually still hard at work. I am amazed that with all the travel and disruptions this month that we haven't had any bumps with IP, but every time we come back home, you fall back into our routine. I'm glad you are so resilient! I'm trying to do more structured play with you in the afternoons. Sometimes we do sensory activities and other times we try to focus on one toy at a time and learn what they do. You enjoy the sensory stuff, but loose interest when I try to play with toys with you. We also do a fair amount of rough housing, which of course, you love!
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| Hard at work |
You are eating pretty well these days. You've slowed down a little (which is good - you were really putting it away there for a while) but you still try new things willingly, eat a wide variety of foods, and are improving a lot with your table manners. You sign more, drink, and please very well. You have kind of dropped "all done" and now let me know you're done by handing me your plate. We are trying to undo that and go back to the sign! You eat lots of fruit, veggies, beans, and eggs. You favorite thing right now is cheese on a tortilla. You would probably eat this 3 times a day if I offered it. You also love scrambled eggs (with or without cheese) - I fix you one almost every morning and you literally clean your plate.
We have started to drop nursings and are down to only 2 a day now - first thing in the morning and bedtime. Now you are having goat's milk once or twice a day. And you love it! I tried it and think it is the most disgusting thing ever, but you suck it down like there's no tomorrow! I think we will keep things like this until after Christmas and then drop the other 2 nursings.
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| Sweet sleep |
You have been an AMAZING sleeper the past couple of weeks. You suddenly figured out how to sleep until it's actually time to wake up (6:30 - 7:00) while we were at Nonnie and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving. I've even had to wake you up a few times lately. And you've been taking both naps wonderfully and I have to wake you up from those as often as not. I think it is because you're worn out from all the walking. Here's hoping good sleep continues. You are always good, but you are super wonderfully fun when you are well rested.
We have regressed a little with the potty thing during all of this traveling. You still do really well, but you are not pooping as consistently (used to be right after breakfast and right after lunch) so I have a harder time always catching you in time. But, you still sit on the potty after meals and before naps and you do really well. Right now you pee about 3-4 times a day and poop once. Hopefully after Christmas we will get back on track.
You are not talking much these days, but are babbling a lot! You still use your practiced words when absolutely necessary, but for the most part you use other means to convey what you want and happily gibber away while you play. One new word on your list this month however is, "no". You shake your head and say "no no no. no no no." 3 at a time. The funny thing is, you say no even when you mean yes. You haven't completely mastered the meaning yet. When you do want to say yes, you nod your whole body. Not just your head. I guess you haven't figured out how to move your head that way yet. It is so funny and so cute!
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| trying to master the fork |
You have learned SO SO much in the past month. You can smile and laugh when I ask you to. You have learned where a lot of your body parts are - toes, ears, head, nose, tongue, fingers, and tummy. You know the names of all your toys and a lot of your books. You try very hard to dress yourself - shoes, hats, diapers, etc. No luck so far, but you know exactly where everything goes, so its just a matter of time. You also try to put clothes on Bear sometimes. SO cute!
You LOVE Bear. I love to see how caring and nurturing you already are. Such a good little mommy! You offer her your paci or your drink and then smack your lips to make sucking noises! And you will rock and sing to her. I wouldn't dream of putting you to bed without her! And every once in a while when I sneak in to check on you at night you will have your arm draped over her, or better yet, be using her as a pillow.
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| Getting in the Christmas spirit |
Grandpa is finally home (to stay this time) from Afghanistan. Yay! You really enjoyed spending time with him over Thanksgiving and have warmed up to him very quickly this time. You are obsessed with his watch and ask for it almost immediately every time you see him (by grabbing at his wrist and signing "please"). I think he's pretty taken with you as well :)
I have not done well with taking pictures this month. I realized after we got home that I didn't get a single picture of your 1st Thanksgiving. I'm sorry. I will really try to do better with Christmas and month 13. I'm not sure if I will keep writing these letters every month or make them more a of a quarterly thing. Either way, I'll do my best to capture as many memories as I can for you.
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| You got "baby doll" for your birthday and fell quickly in love with her! |
You still light up my life. You are definitely starting to assert your independence and are becoming more defiant. But, we're working through it together. I love being with you - playing, reading, snuggling, eating, sharing life. We're quite a team you and me. I love how much you love your Daddy. Your face absolutely lights up when you see him. I love how affectionate you have gotten. I love how curious you are and how focused you get when you are trying to figure out something new. I love that you love to read. I love to see you come toddling down the hall and then trip over your feet trying to run to me when you see me. I love your smile and your laugh. I love the way you scrunch your nose when you smile and how you throw your head back when you laugh! Seriously, where did you learn that!? I love that right before I lay you down at night you kiss my cheek - even if you have your paci in your mouth! I love sneaking in to look at you while you're sleeping. I love you. Every little thing about you! And I am so proud of you my sweet 1 year old baby girl. I love watching you become your own person. I feel so blessed and honored to be the one chosen as your mother. Here's to another wonderful year with you Snuggle Puppy!
Love,
Mommy
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