12 Months

I'm 12 months old!

Playing with Daddy

Riding her horse

Mary Ella,

I cannot believe you are one year old! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home, but at the same time it seems like you've always been with us. You brighten our world and make us so proud and thankful to be your Mommy and Daddy. There's nothing better than watching you learn and grow. Happy 12 months! Here's what you've been up to:

• You weigh 24 lbs. 12 1/2 oz. (95th percentile) and are 30 in. long (90th percentile). You are big and tall! You can reach the edge of our cabinets already!
• You have really taken off with table food. You will eat just about anything! You get excited and start squealing when it's time to eat. You hand me your bib and you're ready to go. Some of your favorites are Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, buttered cinnamon toast, turkey and cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese, berries, bananas, any fruit really, rolls, peas, sweet potatoes, yogurt, yogurt melts, puffs.
• We recently went from 3 bottles a day to just 1 at night. And the only reason I haven't even tried to get rid of that is because we have been out of town for 2 weeks. I thought I would atleast wait until we were home to take that away. You have been fine, but you don't like regular milk from your sippy cup at all.
• Your two front teeth came in this month while we were at the lakehouse. You have a space between them that is cute but makes me laugh.
• You can stand up all by yourself!
• You can say Mama, Dada, Daddy, hi, juice, shoe, eye.
• You constantly talk and babble to yourself and to me. You look at me sometimes and talk like we are having a real conversation.
• You can point to your/my eyes, nose, mouth, ears.
• You know what a flower is, and I have showed you how to smell them. But instead of using your nose you open your mouth and blow "ha, ha" I guess that is your version of "sniff, sniff."
  
• You love to read and squeal when I mention a book. You turn the pages with me and by yourself. Your favorites right now are your "Words" book and "Goodnight Gorilla."
• You are getting good at "figuring out" your toys. You can push buttons and make things work.
• You still want to know the name of everything, and you are starting to point to things you want to know about.
• You bring things to me to open or turn on.
• You try to get the attention of everyone we see by waving and smiling. Everyone always comments on how cute/precious/beautiful/adorable you are. I have to admit I love that!
• You can pat-a-cake all by yourself. You clap, wiggle when you roll it up, and throw your hands up at the end.
• You do these things on demand: pat, dance, shake, sit down, stand up, clap, kiss, wave bye bye, wash your hair, brush your teeth, wash your body, try to put your shoes on, try to put your bow in.
• Your dancing cracks us up! You have been bouncing up and down "dancing" for a while, but now you put your arms up and turn from side to side at the waist, sometimes you even give it a little elbow. You do this when we say "dance, dance, dance." Or when a song you recognize comes on like "OMG" by Usher or "California Girls" by Katie Perry. Ha!
• You have crazy big expressions like your Daddy. You especially like to make your "ooh" and "woo" face when you hear or see something that catches your attention.
• You love to be tickled, twirled, wrestled, turned upside down, anything rough makes you squeal and laugh.
  
• You are just a mess and make my days the best ever! We love you so much!
  

Flashback

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