1 Year

Height: 30 3/4 in (75-90%ile)
Weight: 24 lbs, 3 oz (90%ile)
HC: 45 cm (cm? really?) 50%ile

My sweet Rosebud,

I think this has been my favorite month, in terms of development. In terms of age and turning one and all the emotion that accompanies it--I'm not such a huge fan. You've certainly taken more steps toward toddlerhood and away from babyhood. You're even starting to lose a bit of your...roundedness...and are visibly lengthening. Not to worry; there are still plenty of thighs to go around. :)

Some of this month's favorite things:

(Photo credit: Brian J. Markham)

- As if by magic, you learned the hand motions for "Twinkle, Twinkle," and surprised me by doing them on your changing table one morning. Now you start blinking your fingers whenever you want me to sing the song. So sweet.

- You're a super crawler now, one month later. You spend very little time playing with toys, and quite a bit of time dumping out baskets and crawling aimlessly from one room to another. But you REALLY put on speed when you see someone has left the gate to Avery's pen open. Jackpot! Dog food! Water dish! (Naughty baby.)

- At Grandma's one morning, you learned how to crawl up the (soft, carpeted) stairs. At home, you only ever seem to manage one (hard, wooden) stair--which is just fine with me. But the baby gates are in full swing anyway.

- On your birthday you gave yourself two gifts. 1) A top tooth! 2) The ability to pull yourself up. I had been telling our two visitors that day that I couldn't believe that, at one year, you still weren't pulling yourself up. Not two minutes later, you did it. Show off. You spent the next four days ignoring your new skill, until I mentioned to your pediatrician that you had done it, but only about three times. As soon as we returned home, BAM. It was like someone lit a fire under your squishy tush; you began pulling up on EVERYTHING.

- You get SO EXCITED when we head to the basement to play. Screeching at a pitch only dogs can hear. I love it!

- You will often repeat animal noises that we demonstrate. At the moment: doggie, horse, tiger and elephant--my favorite.

- You have the most beautiful light blonde hair that is starting to curl in the back (SQUEE!!!). I love it. I've even started to sneak barrettes and teeny tiny pony bands into it, but it's tough to keep you from pulling them out.

- This month you started to cuddle at bed time a whole bunch. You plop your sweet head on my shoulder (on top of Owley the lovey) and sometimes even stroke my arm while we rock and sing ("Twinkle," "Lady," "Stay Awake," "Raisins and Almonds," Hush, Little Baby").

- You give a hug by ramming your head into the nearest chest. It's very sweet, if a tiny bit painful. And you're working so hard on the kissing noise. Such concentration involved! But you've got the open-mouth fish face working really well.

- You've discovered the paci game: popping it into my mouth and taking it out. Over and over and over.

- You say "yes!" Especially when asked if you want blueberries or grapes--your two favorites.

(Side note: Dr. E says to go ahead and give you peanut butter. The times, they are a changin'. Also, he suggested cutting out bottles completely--you had still been taking 12 oz of formula per day--and immediately switching to milk in a cup. You're not a fan of the milk. At all.)
(Sleep related, for reference: you still take two naps a day. One from 9:30-11:00 and another from 2:00-4:00. Bed time is around 7:00.)


This will be the last monthly update, until 18 months. I have so enjoyed writing them, as I know you'll enjoy reading them when you're older. I love you, Little Bit (borrowed from Papa).

Kisses,
Mom

(Too tired to proofread. Forgive.)

Cumulative word list:
doggie
uh oh
dada
bye bye
yes/yup

10 Months

Dear Rosebud,

You've reached the stage in life where you've been out of the womb longer than you were in, and I can't believe it was already a year ago that I was hugely pregnant in the heat of summer. This is the month you made the transition from the "easiest baby in the world," to...ummm...a girl with many opinions about life. You are not shy about letting us know if you're uncomfortable in a certain position (on your back when you'd rather be sitting, sitting when you'd rather stand, standing when you'd rather sit), and since you still can't get yourself to your desired location, you grunt about it until someone helps you out. You've also found that you can occasionally distract your brother from taking a toy out of your hands by screaming at the top of your lungs for help.

Here are some more highlights:

- You are (FINALLY) comfortably rolling all around, and Dad and I often find you upside-down or flipped on your stomach when you wake up in your crib. And I snapped a photo of the first time (to my knowledge) you fell asleep on your stomach. As a result of all this movement, Dad lowered your crib to a safer level and Mom cried just a tiny bit.

- You are becoming desperate to pull yourself up on things (the living room ottoman, your crib rail), but your upper body strength can't quite combat your lower body weight. But you keep trying!

- While you're not crawling at all, you do seem to throw yourself forward into Pigeon Pose to retrieve  runaway toys.

- You're more comfortable hanging out on your tummy than you have been in the past, but you're still not pushing up onto hands and knees. But you will stay there to examine a book or a very interesting toy. You are able to push your upper body off the ground, leading your Dad to believe you'll skip the army crawling stage. We'll see...

- Your most piercing scream was heard through the grocery store today (about thirty times), and you thought that was just hysterically funny.

- You have two favorite books (the ABC and Colors Baby books), and you use your new word every time you read them. We're still trying to figure out what that word means, but we're leaning toward "doggie." You also will put your mouth up to the page to "kiss" the picture of the baby.

- You love to make popping sounds with your mouth and encourage those around you to participate, too. For several weeks, I would stick out my tongue when you did that, and it was most fascinating to watch you to try to figure out how to imitate me. A few days ago, you figured it out, and now your little tongue spends half the day hanging out of your mouth.

- You notice every single dog that crosses your path and make sure that every one else notices the dog, too!

- You mastered your first sippy cup on the first try (fabulous Tommy Tippee cups that are bite-free! and come with lids!), though I'm still a little worried you might experience Death By Sippy Cup...you take in so much water at one time!

- Your brother and I took you to the pool for the first time and you love splashing around--and didn't even mind the uncomfortable pool floor on your little thighs.

- We also brought out the baby pool several times last month so you could shriek (at a pitch one would think only dogs could hear) and splash for an hour at a time. You are certainly the happiest when there's water involved.


Words/sounds (that have meaning):

Uh-nnnn = uh oh
Da-nggg = we're not sure what it means, but it definitely means something to YOU (doggie? baby? thank you?)


Thanks for keeping us on our toes! Now let's get moving!!!
Love,
Mom

Photos here: http://www.zangzing.com/hannahrae/10-months-mayjune-2012