Baby E at 12 Months

I can't believe she is already an entire year old! She makes us smile so much all the time. She is spunky and naughty but also adorable, sweet, and absolutely perfect.

Her current stats: 

• Weight: 23.3 lbs.
• Height: 30 inches
• Diaper Size: Still wearing the Size 3's.
• Clothing Size: She wears 9-12 Months outfits.
• Likes: Eating, dancing by trying to jump up and down like crazy, mimicking tons of things we do, using her voice to talk/sing/yell/whatever, giving lots of kisses.
• Dislikes: When anyone tells her no.

This determined little lady is walking!! The week before her birthday, she set her own little record of six steps. Then at her birthday party, she was making cute wobbly steps across half the room. For the past month, she has seemed nervous about taking steps on her own. But apparently having a birthday helped her decide she was ready because she is motivated and trying to walk every chance she can.

She loves experimenting with her voice and sings/chants/yells all the time. It's so cute... until it gets really loud and screechy! She and A escalate by feeding off of each other's volume levels.

Her vocabulary includes "Dad-dad," "Mom-mom," and "Nen-nen," as well as "Uh-oh," "Hi," "Buh" {blanket}, "Babba" {bottle}, "Meh" {milk}, and "Moh" {more}. On top of her verbal efforts toward communication, she is very good at pointing toward what she wants and making noises to indicate what she wants.

We ask her if she wants something and, if not, she shakes her head "no." So she obviously understands the word, but when she's being naughty and we tell her "no," she hates it! As a master of the art of tantrums, being told to stop or not do something causes her to throw a beautiful tantrum complete with flopping on the floor while screaming. It's hilarious, adorable, and annoying all at the same time!

She has started mimicking things that the rest of us do. She especially loves copying A with both his actions and his sounds. It's amazing to watch how perceptive she is and the things she attempts to imitate.

Lately, she loves organizing toys. She pulls everything out of containers {And cupboards. And mom's purse. And anything else she can find!} and then picks it all back up and puts it back where she found it. Over and over again. She can be a little tornado of destruction but it's really cute to watch her try to help clean things up.

She loves reading books. Her favorite place to go is the basket of kids books; she pulls a bunch out and sits on the floor flipping through pages. She likes to sit on our laps and read together for as long as we'll hand her books. She is so curious any time she sees a book—even if its something boring like one of our old textbooks!

She likes to cuddle more lately. When she's tired, she likes to snuggle together in the rocking chair with her blanket to fall asleep. I love having the time to cuddle with her because I feel like I missed a lot of the rocking and snuggling stage while she was colicky.

This sweet little doll has become such a happy kid. The past year has flown by and I am simply amazed to think back over the ups and downs we've gone through over the year only to see how perfect, sweet, and fun she has turned out to be. She is learning so much and her personality has truly blossomed. I know I've said it a million times before, but I feel so lucky to be her mom!