12 Months

She went from this:

To this: 

All in a years time. 

My baby is one. 

Weight: 25 lbs. 9 oz. (Percentile: off the charts)

Height: 31.5 inches (Percentile: off the charts)

Head Circumfrence: 46.4 cm (86th %ile)

18 month clothes are fitting her just right, hopefully she stays just where she is for a bit so that she can fully enjoy these clothes, but I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't happen.

 Belén loves to read. She will just sit and read and read and read. It ceases to amaze me. If it's quiet for awhile in the back room it's more than likely she is just back there reading. It is just the best. This version of Brown Bear Brown Bear is still easily her favorite book (thanks Amelia!) She loves that she can pull the tab all by herself to find the animals.

She unplugs everything. She always tries to plug them back in but can't. So when I come back to my computer or go to unplug my phone, I then see that they haven't charged at all. So fun.

She had the worst diaper rash I have ever seen in my life this last month. She was always scratching at her diaper and changing her was so difficult because she wanted to scratch. It is finally healing. She also had a mild case of pink eye. Not fun at all.

Oh her bottom lip. She has never taken a pacifier, but that lip has recently become just that. When she is sad or tired she will just suck and suck away.

Watching some Daniel Tiger with the big bro after waking up

Last month I mentioned how she stopped leaning on our shoulders while we sang to her before bed and was just a total goof and always in our faces...must have been a quick phase she went through because the last month she has been so cuddly and I love every single minute of it! Before bed/naps she always leans up against us so that we can hold her and sing before laying her down and then when she wakes up, she will just sit with me and cuddle on the couch until she is finally awake enough to start playing. I started to wean her over the past month...cuddling after naps seems to have taken the place of nursing after naps. I don't mind one bit.

Speaking of weaning...she is now weaned! Sunday morning was the last time I nursed her. So bittersweet to stop nursing. My experience with her has been so much better than it was with Shae. In fact, over the past month when she would wake up in the morning I would bring her in to bed with us and she would nurse and cuddle while I tried to catch a few more zzzzz's (while listening to Shae moan or sing loudly from their bedroom). It would only last for about 15 minutes before she was standing up against the headboard jumping up and down or trying to wrestle daddy, but it was precious while it lasted. (I could never figure out how to lay down and nurse with Shae).

She has started giving kisses. To everything. Us, stuffed animals, books, etc. And she still just loooooves stuffed animals.

Kissing...eating...it's all the same

We're pretty happy with this birthday present we got her. She likes kitty noises so much and stuffed animals, so it only seemed appropriate to get her a kitty cat stuffed animal. She loves it so much already. It would seem that this will be her attachment item. We've been trying to give her a fuzzy blanket over the past two months so that she has some kind of attachment item but she just doesn't seem to care (which is soooooo strange to us given how Shae is with his blankie). But she already flips when we try to take the cat away, this might be it.

Kisses for kitty

She haaaaaates getting her face wiped off after a meal. Despises it and she makes it known.

 She has become so interested in utensils recently. She wants to have a fork/spoon at each meal, just like us. It is adorable watching her try to stab at her food with a fork and painful at the same time watching her miss every time or spill the food from her spoon before it reaches her mouth.

She loooooves jumping on the bed. We will hold her hands and she will jump and jump and yell and laugh out of pure joy the entire time. 

I thought she might be transitioning to one nap, and although she can make it through the day and not turn into a pumpkin with one, she still really loves two naps (probably because she doesn't get to sleep in as late as she would like thanks to big brother).

Just because she cuddles does not mean she is no longer a goof, she totally is. Her faces, her squeals, her growls. 

She can definitely pull of a pretty good serious face though too. And she loves whole apples, but only whole.

She also devours any kind of berries and Minestrone Soup (which is what we had for her birthday meal). She doesn't seem too picky yet, but has started to refuse bananas and scrambled eggs more (unless dosed in a little ketchup).

Although she has become a bit more vocal when she wants something or when something is taken away from her (hello phone retrieval meltdown), she is still just so content and happy. She brightens our life every single day. She could not make it any easier on us to love her.

Happy Birthday big girl. We love you.