Happy first birthday, sweet Emilia baby!
On October 30, 2012, my sweet baby Emilia turned one year old.
I don't think I am quite emotionally ready to do a "year in review" post, so I'll stick with a month in review - and there is a lot to review this month!
We took Emilia to the pediatrician the day after her birthday (yup, on Halloween - her doctor was dressed like Ariel from The Little Mermaid). Poor baby had to get three shots. Here are Emilia's stats:
This month:
Length: 29 1/2 inches, 50-75%
Weight: 20 lbs, 3 oz., 50-75%
Head: 17 3/4 inches, 50%
Her stats at six months:
Length: 27 inches, 90%
Weight: 16 lbs, 8 oz., 50-75%
Head: 17 inches, 50-75%
And at birth:
Length: 21 1/2 inches, 95%
Weight: 7 lbs, 11 oz., 50%
This month Emilia has become much more adventurous with pulling up and reaching for things: on her bookshelf, on the coffee table, wherever she can reach. Also this month I found her for the first time standing in her crib when I went in to get her one morning; now she pulls to stand in her crib all the time!
Emilia has become much more verbal this month as well. She could already say "Daddy" and "Dada" really well; "Mama" would come out every now and then, particularly when she was super sick, sad, or sleepy; she could also say "Hi." This month she started trying to repeat words after us, though she would only say them once or twice. Other words she now regularly uses include: "Bye-bye," "baby," "wa wa" or "agua" (water), and one yet-to-be-identified word that sounds like "Brie." She can sign "All done" and "Milk", though she has quit signing "More." She has also learned how to shake her head "No" if I don't seem to be responding appropriately to her "All done" signal. And if I'm really not getting it, she'll throw herself backwards and scream - actually sometimes she goes straight to this "signal" without trying the others first, particularly when I try to put her on the changing table.
Becoming more adventurous and more verbal has also meant that Emmy has begun testing other limits as well. For example, she will now pick up a piece of food and drop it on the floor, looking at us to see how we will respond. Or she will continue to do something - say, hit herself on the head with her hand (she must have learned this "trick" at school from one of the boys!) - even when we say "No." Since I don't think she would really understand discipline yet, we just tell her "No" and then remove her from the situation or distract her with something. That seems to work 99% of the time.
Just towards the end of the month, Emilia began "cruising" along the couch. Now that she is one, we are finally starting to encourage her to stand and walk on her own (and in fact, the doctor said we need to let her know if Emilia isn't walking on her own by the time she is fourteen months old...). When we first began holding her hands and walking with her, she would often drop to the floor and start crawling almost immediately. Now, however, she is willing to take several steps holding onto our hands before she drops down. She is also able to stand easily by herself holding onto something with just one hand, but she hasn't been willing to try letting go yet.
Emilia still loves to look at books, and when we will let her, she still loves to pull all her board books off the shelf and onto the floor. Her other favorite toys include the stacking rings, the shape sorter, and an egg shaker that came as a favor from Jacob's birthday party last month. She also loves to play peek-a-boo! The Praise Baby CDs usually calm her down if she is fussy in the car.
Emilia now has eight teeth: four on top, four on bottom.
Emilia learned how to drink from a straw this month!
Emilia still nurses 3-4 times a day, with one of those feedings in bottle form each school day. I'm going to start offering her whole milk once or twice a day, but I hope to continue to breastfeed her at least a couple times a day through the winter. Not only do I think it will keep her healthier during flu season, but it is also a really nice way for me to connect with her after being away from her for several hours each weekday.
Emilia got her first ear infection this month, just a few days before her birthday. We (and the doctor) were shocked that she was able to stay healthy this long, particularly since she is in full-time day care. I attribute it to nursing! Poor baby was pitiful - you can read about it here. She's just finishing up her antibiotics now.
E is still a super-picky eater. She seems to be more willing to eat something if it is not cut up into small, bite-size pieces - she would rather bite off of a whole tortilla, for example, than pick up and eat little bites. We're trying to get creative about how to get her to eat new foods, but we're not having much luck. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears!
Here's the month in photos:
One of E's favorite games is racing up and down the hallway in a box.
The weather has been so nice this month, so we've walked to our neighborhood park
several times so Emilia can swing, climb on the slide, or just play on a blanket.
Often we'll stop and get a smoothie to share from Daily Juice.
Even though she's a picky eater, Emilia really likes her highchair
these days, especially if I leave room for her to pull her feet up!
Emmy loves pulling all the books off the bottom shelf of her bookcase,
and now that she can pull up, she's got her sights set even higher!
Visiting Dadoo at work.
This month Emilia and I flew (without Taylor) to Chicago
then took a three-hour bus ride to South Bend, Indiana
to meet sweet little Simeon Wilson. You can read about our trip here.
Here we are on the bus to South Bend.
And here we are meeting sweet baby Simeon!
Emmers playing in her room, though these days
she much prefers playing in the living room or kitchen.
One of Emmy's tricks which she has really honed this month: pointing.
Standing in her crib!
At Imogen's first birthday party with Dadoo.
Reeeeaching for whatever she can on the coffee table.
We actually just sold this coffee table on Craigslist and now we're
looking for something a bit more kid-friendly.
See the yellow egg shaker in E's hand?
Helping Dadoo study.
At the pumpkin patch.
Helping Mommy unload the coffee table so we could
take pictures to post to Craigslist.
Walking with Mommy.
Playing in the backyard in the beautiful weather.
At the park.
Playing peek-a-boo behind the shower curtain.
Eating goldfish and watching football with Dadoo.
Okay, I didn't really do much of a standard photo shoot for Emilia's birthday, but I did do on a couple of days before when she was dressed up for church. Here ya go:
And here are some pictures of E playing in the backyard:
She still loves to play with my sunglasses!
Emilia learned how to drink out of a straw this month!
Now she drinks water all. the. time.
Saying "Bye bye."
The teachers in Emilia's class made her a birthday poster and had a little "party" for her at snack time, which Taylor and I got to attend. Here are the pictures from it:
The evening of her birthday, we took her to Central Market to play on the playground and eat dinner (and a cupcake):
Here's a video of the cupcake action:
And how to end a great birthday? With a birthday bath, of course!
