One Year Update & Cake Smash Baby Girl

Dear Baby Girl!  You turned one a couple of weeks ago! I can’t believe how fast this year went!

The rest of the images (including the cake photo above) are from the cake smash photoshoot I did with Allie!   (@allielynnphotography) I requested a minimalist-type shoot and a pink theme, and boy, did she deliver.  We had SO much fun during this shoot. I know that I will treasure these images for a lifetime. I couldn’t be happier.  I did the same thing with KK and still love those images.  

It’s been a crazy year, baby girl!  We’ve had so much fun getting to know you this year!  You were a relatively easygoing baby and, overall, a good sleeper.  I thank God for you every day!

You’re a little below the 50th percentile for weight, a little above the 50th percentile for height, and perfect.  You have opinions and aren’t about to let your brothers boss you around.  You already are trying to rule the roost, and I’m not gonna lie, you are doing a pretty good job at it!  You know what you want, and you aren’t about to let being the third baby hold you back.  

You’ve said Mama a couple of times but still mostly say Uh oh, Dada, and Kitty (or dee) most often. You’ve said hi, ya, and ta-da a couple of times. You reach your arms up for up, clap when happy, clap for more, sign all done, wave hi/bye, and reach your whole hand when you’re pointing at something, and you high five.  One thing I learned in the speech therapy with your big brother is that the goal is to encourage communication, not for that communication to be perfect.  They taught me to accept word approximations as progress.  I can also tell you understand A LOT now.  I can ask you where X is, and you’ll look for it.  Or do you want to nurse? And you’ll claw at my shirt.  

You can stand alone but only take a step or two without falling.  You’re getting close, though! You are still nursing a couple of times a day, and unlike the boys, you actually claw at my shirt to nurse at random times.  So maybe you will nurse longer than boys?  I don’t have any plans for that.  You still take a bottle at night. I figure we will keep that up until I run out of formula.  

 

FOOD

You’ve gotten to be a way better eater in the last month.  You added several foods to your like lists that you previously wouldn’t touch! Overall, you prefer strong flavors and proteins to sweet foods.  You didn’t touch your homemade cake on your birthday and only ate a few bites of cake at your cake smash photo shoot! 

• cheese of any kinds – by far your favorite food 
• fried eggs or scrambled eggs 
• peanut butter toast
• most fruit (blueberries, strawberries, apples)
• baby french toast
• banana muffins 
• bananas 
• puffs and Bambas 
• bell pepper strips
• broccoli 
• asparagus
• green beans 
• Banza pasta – sometimes plain, sometimes with whatever sauce we are eating 
• avocado toast (hit or miss)
• applesauce 
• fig bars 
• chicken 
• salmon
• burgers
• steak 
• carnitas 
• yogurt tubes

Dislikes:

• cottage cheese 
• hummus 
• peaches 
• oranges
• whole milk unless it’s in a bottle 

Activity Likes (pretty much the same thing the last couple of months):  

•  Grabbing your feet
•  Pulling off socks  
• Walking with the push walker 
•  Being held 
•  Being in the carrier
•  Your brothers are making funny noises
•  Any random box as long as it’s new
• The remote control
• My phone 
•  Riding in the car 
•  Riding in the stroller 
•  Watching your brothers play
• The Kitty 
• Mommy singing 
• Playing with toys 
• Swings – YOU LOVED THIS!
• Baths 

Dislikes: 

•  When you can see Mommy, but she isn’t holding you
•  When Mommy leaves the room 
•  New people (they scare you now) 

Baby girl, we love you so much!  This has been a crazy year going from a family of four to five, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.  There is something I love so much about our little pod.  Not everything is set up for a family of five, but it doesn’t matter, we can figure it out.  Here is to the first of many fun birthdays!