Twelve Months Old

Dear big girl,

It happened. You went off and grew up on me. There was no stopping it no matter how hard I tried. Month 11 to 12 has been the longest month by far even though we've been very busy. I just can't believe that we have a one year old. You have officially moved out of the infant stage and are a full blown toddler. You have mastered walking, learned several new words and you are able to interact and understand conversation now. Not to mention you have us laughing hysterically every day. I better quit babbling and get to writing, there is a lot to share with you this month. Trust me when I tell you, this is the month that you discovered your freedom. We are all in trouble now. ;)

Let's start off in the same fashion we always do: let's talk about food. Nothing too exciting to mention here except that you eat anything and everything. Big bites or small bites...it doesn't matter. You can handle it. Some new foods to mention are boiled eggs, mandarin oranges, chicken and noodles, macaroni and the list goes on. You are still into shoveling everything in as fast as you can. The independent side of you comes out during mealtime. You get pretty ticked off when someone tries to feed you with a spoon. You either bite down and won't let go or your face turns red and a scream builds up inside. Even though you try to get every last bite in your mouth, you also enjoy spilling a bit on your belly and rubbing it in with both hands....

You are a fan of buffets of any kind.....

We started you on whole milk at 11 months 2 weeks old and you have done wonderful with it....

You experienced your first time of poison ivy this month. My guess is if you are already getting it at such a young age then it probably won't be your last. We never actually made a trip to the doc because we were lucky enough to be having dinner with two docs that evening and had them take a look at it. I guess dada's job has it's perks. It is almost cleared up now on your chest and hand and you don't even seem to know it exists. In other sensitive skin news, you have emerged from your room in the morning with mysterious scratches on your face and neck on several occasions. Crazy girl, what are you doing in there?  Bumps and bruises, there have been a few.....but still no blood or cuts, oh thank you thank you. No need for bubble wrap because you seem to have plenty of padding from your extra arm and leg rolls.

While we are on the subject of rolls I guess I should mention that your rolls are disappearing like a setting sun. :( My chunky monkey is slowly turning into a skinny Minnie. Well, not skinny by any stretch of the imagination, but you are slimming down a bit since you've started walking. Big or small, you will always be perfect in my eyes. We will visit Dr. McDreamy mid-August so I don't have any idea on weight and height...but I do know you've still got a pretty big noggin. In that noggin I'm sure you are housing the most interesting thoughts....I sure wish I knew what you were thinking. Like the other day when you tossed your horse toy in the toilet...or the time when you went dumpster diving at Nanny's...or how about this morning when you carried a three pound snow globe into Nanny's entry way and dropped it on the floor.

You have developed a sleeping pattern that I think we are starting to appreciate more and more everyday. Bedtime is usually between 7:30 and 8:00. You go back and forth about your bedtime feelings. Some days you can't get to your bed fast enough and other days you scream until we come in to find all of your binkies thrown on the floor and tears streaming down your face in anger. It's a good thing you are so cute, otherwise this would get kind of old. Actually we get a good laugh about it trying to guess just how many binkies you have thrown on the ground when we go in to check on you. Once you fall asleep there is usually no waking you. Except for the occasional nightmare or earache, you are out cold. Most nights when I come in to check on you before I go to bed I find you with you on your belly with your booty up in the air. Wake up time is pretty random but usually some time between 6:30 and 7:30. Usually we can buy a few extra zzzzzz's while you roll around and chatter to yourself. I don't want to make you seem like a complete sleeping angel...because there are occasions where you hate sleep. You have been going through this phase where you wake up screaming around 11:00 and I can't find anything to calm your down. The other night I had to finally get in the car at 3:00 a.m. and drive you to sleep. We haven't had a repeat of that night thank goodness. Do you realize how hard it's going to be to wean you from your binky?

I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you would be so fast on your feet at this age. Sometimes I'm convinced that you are actually running. Around 11 months 1 week you earned your wings and you took off. You've already put many miles on those chubby legs. I haven't seen you crawl in a couple weeks and I think it's gone out of style. You fall often but don't seem to mind one bit. Except for the other day when you were roaming the house and I hear you fell and hit your head on the door...you had a nice big bruise to prove it when I got home. Daddy said you screamed bloody murder for a few minutes.....kinda glad I missed that one. Climbing and carrying heavy objects while walking are your two newest dangerous activities. We haven't practiced walking in shoes yet and I don't plan to put them on your for awhile yet. Partly because I've found that it's a waste of money and time to put them on you because you rip them off and partly because I think you'd spend more time on your face that up on your feet.

The cool thing about having a one year old is that we are provided with constant entertainment. The funny part is that you don't even realize that you are being funny. It's a guarantee that you will do something daily that leaves us shaking our heads. Most of these pictures need no captions you silly goose....

Outside is like magic. We can turn a cranky baby into a giggly baby within seconds. Thus we have been going on bike rides every night around bedtime to avoid your cranky fest.....

You love the bike and so do I! We go either early morning or late evening after your bath. This morning during our ride I left you hitting my back with your hand all of a sudden. I turned around to see you leaning to look over your right shoulder. I stopped the bike to make sure your straps were still tight and discovered that your bink was missing from your mouth. I looked back down the road and spotted the orange dot about 50 yards back. We turned around to go pick up your friend, I plopped it in your mouth and you let out a big giggle. You made a game out of it and threw it down three more times during our ride. Oh what fun!

It's nice to be able to take you with me because this is what happens when I leave to workout without you....

"She left us again Emmi!"

I guess it's a bit obvious from the above picture but you and the doggies are pretty tight. I'm not sure they share in your enthusiasm though. Baby girl, you are so sweet to the dogs....well, when you and daddy aren't chasing them in your car. :) You have learned how to pet them appropriately now. Your pets used to involve lots of hitting and banging. All I have to say now is "Hallie, can you give the dog pets?" and you give Emmi a nice long stroke down her back with your tiny little hand. Melts my heart everytime. You love to cuddle the dogs and lay down against them for as long as they will allow....which usually is just for a couple seconds. You watch the dogs from the back door and bang on it as if to say "hey guys, I'm here!" Again, I'm not so sure they share in your enthusiasm but someday they will. Especially when you perfect your dog toy throwing skills. We have been working on them though and you are getting pretty good about tossing their pink squeaky toy. Bottom line is you have lots of love to give these canines!

You are a little smarty pants my dear. You amaze me each day with some new trick. You also have an uncanny ability to understand and follow conversation. You listen intently and surprise me by hearing my say certain words or imitating me. You have an arsenal of skills and love to show them to us all at once. When I ask you to show me one, I get them all. You rarely just clap your hands....it's almost always followed by wiggling your tongue, head banging and making your indian noise. Then you are sure to flash me a big ol' smile. You have been clapping for awhile but you had to be prompted. You surprised me the other day as I sang Pat a Cake to you...all of a sudden you started clapping and smiling so big. I wasn't even clapping...just singing....but you new what to do! You give kisses on demand now. YES! Nice big slobbery, open-mouthed kisses. The best kisses are Hallie kisses! Daddy must have one of these signature kisses before he leaves for work every morning...and every once in awhile he even gets two kisses. What a lucky guy! I can say "Hallie, can I have a kiss?" and you will quickly take your bink out of your mouth and lean toward me. What better to pair with kisses than hugs. You also share these from time to time. Your stuffed animals get more of the hugs than mama and dada but it's still cute to watch you love on them. Oh and I can't forget the dogs....they definitely get more hugs than anyone else.

You are a chatterbox. Usually you are speaking Hallie language but there are times when I can get your attention and we practice your words. Of course the always popular "dada" is on the tip of your tongue....but you've added a few new words to your repertoire. Duck sounds like "duh." Moo sounds like "muh." You love to imitate sounds and tunes. The tune at the beginning of your Baby Einstein video goes something like this..."dun dun dun dunnnnn." Once you see the video start you mumble "dun dun dun dun." Cracks me up every. single. time.  Still no mama on a regular basis. Every now and then you throw me a bone and make my day. You understand a lot of words. The word "no" is one of these. You know what it means, but you don't seem to care. lol! I can ask you any kind of question and you either shake your head 'yes' or 'no'. My favorite is when you do this and I'm asking your dad a question and you try to answer for him. Thank you for this because sometimes he isn't even listening...but I know you are. ;)

Wanna know my favorite thing that you've done this month? Actually I'd say it's my favorite thing you've ever done. Every once in awhile, my darling girl, you walk toward me and turn around carefully and sit on my lap (heart melting). I have never felt such as overwhelming feeling of happiness and love. And sometimes you will even bring me a book and plop down for a nice read (heart melting again). Please keep crawling into my lap baby girl...and someday please learn to curl up beside me on the couch to watch a good Disney movie....and eventually learn to crawl in my bed and cuddle with me....and someday sit in front of me and let me play with your pretty hair....and promise to never stop hugging me. I will promise the same.

Love,

Your very best friend


P.S. - If there is any way you could just slow down a little bit at this growing business that would be great. K? Thanks. Heck, who am I kidding?! You are already driving.....