Twelve Month Update

Yup. Twelve months! We've survived the first year, people! I've only just gotten used to the fact that we even have a baby, and now she's one! I haven't been dealing with it all that well. Lots of tears, thanks mostly to those Olympics commercials for P&G that showed the Olympians as they grow up to be great athletes. They got me every time!!

Weight: 19 pounds 2 ounces (15th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (40th percentile - she's grown 2+ inches in the last two months...finally catching up!)
Sizes: Pretty much the same as last month - Mostly 6-12 month items, a handful of old 3-6 month (mostly leggings that are now capris), and a few new 12-18 month t-shirts that are a wee bit big on her yet.

Sleep: If you've followed this blog for a while, you'll know that we are not blessed with an easy sleeper. We've certainly had some issues. Z typically takes two naps a day, both are a fight to get her down for, but last about an hour each (sometimes longer in the morning). She hits the sack for the night around 7:30ish. Sometimes we don't hear from her again till 6:30 or 7:00am, sometimes we are up and down multiple times in the night. There isn't much consistency, and I think she's just such an active kiddo, she doesn't want to miss out on one second of play. She's also on the verge of some pretty major developmental leaps, physical and mental, so that's gotta screw with the sleep patterns. This too shall pass.

Diet: Baby Tuna is 100% self-feeding at this point. She had enough of being spoon-fed a while back, so it's finger food all day for her. Lot's of diced steamed veggies, cut-up grapes, strawberries & apples, grilled cheese with steamed kale in the middle, penne with shredded mozz, peas & carrots are all some of her favorites. I just started giving her baby goldfish and graham crackers, but she'll pick grapes and strawberries over them both any day. We've also given her PB&Js, which seem to be a hit.

Every morning, Z and I both enjoy smoothies with banana, greek yogurt, OJ, almond milk, spinach, and either mango, strawberries or blueberries. This kid LOVES a good smoothie! Pair that with some scrambled cheesy eggs or a NutraGrain waffle with cinnamon and you have breakfast.

Z's still taking three bottles a day, but her pediatrician has asked that the bottles disappear and we begin to move her to milk. After trying straight milk (only to watch it waterfall down her chin), we started mixing it with her formula, hoping that one day soon, we can stop shelling out $25 a pop for formula. The next to go will be the bottles, which is pretty exciting. No more washing 1,000 bottle parts!!

Baby Loves: Cruising all over the house (no walking yet, but she's getting closer), splashing in the tub, putting her toys in a basket and "walking" them around the living room, playing outside, swinging at the park (so wishing we had somewhere to hang a swing, but palm trees don't make great swing sets...boo!), cruising circles around her Zany Zoo all day, hanging on to Momma's legs when she's making lunch/brushing her teeth/blowdrying her hair (super fun for me when she goes for the dead-leg and my kneecaps slam into the cabinet doors), playing in Scout's water bowl.

Baby Dislikes: When we take away the remote or our cell phones when she's hijacked them, getting dressed, getting a diaper change, going down for a nap.

Milestones: Didn't really hit any big milestones this month - still no recognizable words or solo steps, which are the two biggies for this age. Z communicates pretty effectively with grunts, babbles, and squeals, so I'm not sure she's in a big rush to start speaking English. Of course tomorrow, she could say , "Good morning, Momma!" and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised!

And as for the walking, well, in these last few days since her birthday, she's been getting very close. She's walking while holding on to our fingers and getting braver with stepping away from something and kamikazeing herself, which she never did before she turned one. But all that really counts towards her month thirteen update!

Standing Solo: This month, Baby Tuna has started to get the courage to let go and stand on her own. Once she realizes what she's doing, she immediately sits, but it's just one more sign that we're about to have a full-fledged toddler on our hands!

Teeth: 8 and counting. With the amount of drooling (you can see a nice string of it in the photo above) and chewing going on lately, I'd say she's working on a molar or two. Should be superfun!

Blowing Kisses & High Fives: We've been working on blowing kisses for such a long time (along with waving which she seems totally against doing) and this past month she finally got it...sorta. To Z, blowing a kiss is done by putting the back of her hand up to her open mouth and making a "muah" sound as she pulls her hand away. Since I get one of these every nite at bedtime, I'll take it!

High fives are a little newer, and not all the way there yet, but she will put our hand to ours when we say "high five".

It's so funny how fast the twelve months go. In the beginning, you keep wishing the time to pass more quickly because life with a needy fussy screaming tiny newborn is such a nightmare so hard. But now, I'm torn. I'd love to just freeze time right here, but it's so much fun to watch Z figure things out, learn new skills, and reach new milestones.