Month Twelve (with First Birthday Cake Photos)

8.25.2016


Well, we made it. 

And by we, I mean Jordan, me, and my mother. Because I could not have made it without my on-call therapist to talk me down off the ledge once or twice or eighty-five times.

During the week leading up to the Big Event of R turning one, I was feeling a range of emotions, and I had a hard time putting her down for bed on her last night before single digits. But now I’m really feeling good about everything, and I am excited to see where this next year takes us! 

There will for sure not be any more monthly R updates, but I will pop in every now and then to share what’s going on with her. Although I still haven’t decided how much I want to share about her on the Internet now that she’s a bit older. Poop explosion stories are funny and all, but I don’t know if she will appreciate too many more of those out there for potential boyfriends to find.

But I'll figure that all out later. For now, here is what month twelve looked like for Miss R:


Weight: 19 lbs 4 oz (7 lbs 9 oz at birth)
Height: 28.5 inches (19.5 inches at birth)
Wearing: Size 12-month clothes; size 3 diapers

Eat

All I can say is, girlfriend loves to eat. She does great with almost anything we put in front of her, literally stuffing her mouth full like a hibernating chipmunk. Then she gags herself, pulls out a wad of food, looks at it, and stuffs it all back in. It’s gross and ridiculous. 

We introduced a sippy cup a few months ago in anticipation of exchanging bottles for cups, and it’s been interesting, but she is finally getting the hang of it and actually uses the cup during mealtimes to drink water. It’s really cute. 

About 3-4 days before she turned one, I was almost out of formula so I started doing half-and-half with whole milk and formula in her bottles, and true to form she drank the whole thing and acted like nothing was different. Which was nice but weird because surely it doesn’t taste the same???? I don’t know. The formula ran out, and I didn’t buy a new canister, so we are 100% on whole milk now.
I know I sound like I know what I’m talking about, but lest you think I have it all together let me remind you that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m making this up as I go along and hoping I don’t mess anything up too badly. Welcome to motherhood.

She is down to 4 “feedings” a day—nursing in the morning and night for bed, and two bottles with 4 oz each, one for lunch and one for snack. We are working on the milk in a sippy cup instead of a bottle.

Sleep 

R sleeps 11-12 hours a night. Can I get an amen? She goes down around 7-7:30 and wakes up around 6:30/7 almost every night. 

Honestly, I wish she stayed up later in the evening so we could hang out more. I feel like I get such little time with her during the week, and it makes me sad. But she starts rubbing her eyes and getting fussy around 7, so that’s when we start the bedtime routine.

Play

R is pulling up on everything, cruising the furniture, and crawling at breakneck speeds, but she doesn’t care one bit about standing or walking. She holds on to our fingers and walks around the house with us, and she could absolutely 100% walk if she wanted to, but she doesn’t care. She stood a few different times for 3-4 seconds, but that’s about it. 

She hasn’t said any words yet, at least not any words we are counting. Sure, she babbles dada and mama, but until she says it too one of us on purpose, it’s not a real word. We do think she’s finally getting the hang of “more” and “eat” and “all done” that we’ve been signing for months, but it’s hit or miss. (Update: as of publishing this past 2 weeks after her birthday, she is signing "all done." My baby is a GENIUS.)
She got some fun new toys for her birthday, so we are enjoying those. Her absolute favorite thing is her Praise Baby DVD. She will literally sit for a solid ten minutes and watch it and dance, and it’s so cute!

She still loves the same things she loved as a newborn: being outside, baths, and looking around. I think that’s partly why she has been such a good traveler for us, because she loves people watching and looking at new things. 
She has started showing a bit more….spunk, I guess you could say, when it comes to things she has opinions on, so I’m already anticipating epic meltdowns in my future. But she is really smart (the daycare teacher said that, so it’s not just me that thinks so!) and honestly so much fun, and we love her so much. 

Now for a year in numbers:

-12 pounds 11 ounces gained
-9 inches grown
-6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom)
-84 miles run with mama pushing the jogging stroller (many more miles than that on walks!)
-9 airplane rides
-4 states (Texas, Virginia, Missouri, Illinois)
-7 drives to Texas + 1 drive to Chicago

Finally, I made a video (yes, another video!) of R’s 10-12 months. If you missed the video of months 1-9, you can watch that here. For months 10-12, see below or click here to watch on YouTube!

Thanks for following along as I shared R's updates this year! I already love having these to look back on, and I'm really glad I kept up with it.
shelleystirs said...

What a good way to start the day! Loved the last part...:)

Leslie Lukens Martin said...

The video is my favorite! You captured some fabulous moments! And I especially love how she inch-worm crawled at 10 months! :)

Kayla MKOY said...

I love that she LOVES to eat so much!! ;) so cute. She is a doll!

Amy @ A Desert Girl said...

She is soooo adorable!! I've enjoyed these updates through the year because she's a couple of months ahead of Ava and it has been fun to see what should be anticipated. I've also looked back at posts because I remembered you saying something about R that seemed to resonate with where Ava was at 6 months, etc.

You have a one year old!!!

AnneMarie said...

Those cake pictures are great :) Congratulations on making it to one year! That is awesome that she's sleeping so well and doing so good.

StephTheBookworm said...

Aw! These photos are beautiful!

I also stopped monthly updates for Caleb after he turned one. I also share a lot less photos of him on the blog now and am also still grappling with how much I want to share about him now that he's getting older. Sigh. Such a dilemma.

Audrey Louise said...

9 airplane rides and 4 states for a one year old! That's impressive! You guys gave that little lady a wonderful first year of life!!

Amy said...

Oh she's the sweetest!

Beka @ Sunshine to the Square Inch said...

Cuteness! I think the videos are really fun! I'm glad you are feeling better about her being 1.

Allison said...

I wish Aiden would learn from her eating habits (minus the spitting the food out and then eating it again. HAHA!) He is Mr. picky most days. I stopped doing updates at the same time with Aiden, but now I forget when he started doing certain things and I don't have my blog to look back on. I guess I could write things down in an actual book, but I've failed at that. Anyway, she's adorable and you're doing great!

Erin LFF said...

She is just adorable! I have loved watching her grow up on your blog over the past year. Also, loving her party dress- too cute.

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

i love that she loves to eat - that's the best. i have loved following along and seeing her grow, and you too - that sounds corny and cliche and weird. but i think you're doing a fabulous job!

Unknown said...

She is too cute! Congrats on one year of motherhood and your super smart, super cute baby girl!

Carolann Chambers said...

You have such a sweet family and I can't believe miss R is one year old. I've been reading your blog since before you were pregnant. Also, I am curious about what you decide to do about photos/stories about R online. It's something I've thought a lot about -- what I will want to share about my children when I do have them.

Rach said...

I love that she loves the Praise Baby DVD so much. How fun! :) And I just love all these photos. Congratulations on having a one year old. May this next year be EVEN better than the first!

Unknown said...

The first thing I just thought, "Your child is a year old, I remember when you were pregnant, I've been reading your blog for along time." :)

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