This year has, by far, been the best of my life. While I have loved each first year spent with all of my babies, this one has been so different. This time around, I've slowed down and enjoyed it more. I haven't worried about you getting to each milestone because experience has taught me that you will get there. I haven't worried as much about each little cough or sniffle, because I've learned from your big sis & brother what I should be worried about and what's not serious. And, I've learned that skipping a nap won't hurt you, and a crazy late bedtime won't hurt me. :)
All that has made me much more relaxed as a mama and made this year such fun! I've spent more time rocking you. After each naptime/bedtime bottle, you'll turn into me and we'll rock and rock and rock. You'll put your head on my shoulder and happily lay there until either you go to sleep or I lay you down in your crib -- then you just roll right over and sleep. You're such a great sleeper, too. You take only 1 nap these days -- about 2-3 hours. And, you have a very firm 6:30 bedtime (if we know what's good for us!). You sleep all night without a peep and wake up happy between 6:30 and 7am. On days when we can sleep in, you're content to play in your crib until about 8am when we get you up. :)
You've started to have some favorite activities. You love to look out the window at the pond or M & H playing in the yard. You're not too happy though if you can't be out there playing, too, and let me know it! You love for me to swing you up and down in my arms. You love for us to read to you -- you'll sit in my lap for as long as I'll keep reading. Your favorite books are touch & feel, Jamberry and The Sleepytime Dance.
But, your most favorite thing to do is wave. WAVE. You wave to everyone! You wave out the car window. You wave in the grocery cart. And, your most favorite person to wave to is Daddy. If you see him sitting at the table reading or studying, you'll immediately start waving to him. And, you don't stop until he waves back. :) You have the cutest wave -- straight arm with only your hand going up and down. Like royalty!
You are busy, busy, busy these days. You aren't afraid to go somewhere alone. I'll find you sitting in the middle of our dark bathroom or in a corner of the kids room looking at one of their books. And, you put everything in your mouth. My vaccum cleaner is getting a workout these days trying to keep the floors clean!
You aren't walking yet, but you're cruising everywhere. And, you can crawl FAST. You get into stuff I didn't even know I had! Your favorite places to play are the tupperware drawer, the pantry, and the open fridge. Forget the hundreds of toys. No, you like our stuff too much! You're opening cabinet doors too. Since Madeleine & Harrison never bothered the cabinets I never had to babyproof them, but I think this time I just might. ;) You're one busy gal to keep up with!
You are such a good eater. Your current favorites are grapes, apples, cheese -- any and all kinds, you haven't met a cheese you didn't like yet! -- puffs, cheerios, and mini cheese-its, peas and corn. You've liked every veggie I've given you & you like most anything that comes from our plate. Since you still eat dinner before the rest of us, I usually save our leftovers and make them your dinner for the next nite. You don't seem to mind! And, you can chew most anything you want thanks to all the teeth you have! You have 4 top front teeth, 3 bottom front teeth and a one top molar! You're about to add a second top molar any day -- I can feel it right under your gum. You've been a great teether, but this last molar has made you cranky the past couple of days. The first one popped in without any fussing & I only found it by accident. Neither your brother or sister got their molars until around 16-18 months, so I wasn't looking for it yet.
You are quite the mama's girl, but your favorite person is your sissy, Madeleine. You love love love her! You get so excited in the afternoon when I say that it's time to go get Madeleine. You'll crawl right to the door and pound on it until we go to the car! And, she feels equally about you. She always has time to play with you or read to you. She'll make silly faces that make you laugh and go and get you when you're somewhere you shouldn't be. Harrison is pretty big stuff in your eyes as well. He's always singing your favorite song, "God Made the Big Round Sun." We sing this at least 100 times a week! Seriously! You can make all the hand motions and when you want us to sing it, you'll put your hands above your head and say "GA GA GA." I think you're trying to say "God." You can say a good many words, too. You can say: mama, dada, byebye, uh-oh, baby, and baba (bottle). You babble all the time & make some funny sound combinations. One of your newest is bu-ga....which your sister & brother thinks sounds like "booger." They think this is hilarious and laugh and laugh at you when you do this!
You're still quite a chunky monkey. We have your doctors appt at the end of the month (we've had to keep rescheduling because of all the snow) and I can't wait to see how much you weigh and how long you are. You're wearing 12-18 month clothes mostly, with a few 6-12 month too. Your shoe size is a 2-3 & you have the littlest feet! You're in size 4 diapers right now.
You still love bathtime and will play until the water gets cold and you get chilly. You like to splash everyone around you at bathtime and can soak the place in minutes. You really prefer to play in the tub and have started to fuss a bit when it's time to wash up. You get a bath daily because you are so dirty! I don't know how you do it, but you are so messy by bedtime!
You are such a content child -- especially if you're being held. As long as you're not hungry or tired, I can take you anywhere and you're happy. I'm often told that you're such an easy going baby. You don't fuss at church when I leave you or when I hand you off at Madeleine's school -- where they love you! You're just starting to get shy around strangers and will lay your head on my shoulder if you don't know someone. I think this is so sweet! My Charlotte, this year with you has been so very special. Fillled with memories that I'll treasure forever. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next year holds....but I'll take it just one day at a time. I want to freeze this time that seems to be passing all to quickly and hold on to these days. They truely are the best days of my life.
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