One Year Update

Kaitlyn will be 13 months in four days but I couldn't ignore the one year update. It took me this long to get it together!

Big update this month! I still can't believe my baby is one year old. It has been amazing watching her grow and change over the past twelve months.

• She is 17 lbs, 5 oz. and 27 inches long. I had sworn that by now she would have hit 20 lbs, especially given the amount she eats during the day and her little potbelly. I was surprised when I saw her weight on the scale. She remains in the 3rd percentile for weight and 5th percentile for height!
• Food. Kaitlyn will pretty much eat anything we give to her, although she still prefers foods that are smooth and don't require effort to chew (ie. purees or yogurt) over foods that are grainy or textured (ie. rice, risotto, ground meat). Kaitlyn's absolute favorite food is cheese and she will eat it any way it's given to her, whether sliced, melted, or as a sauce. Other favorites include plain greek yogurt mixed with blueberry sauce, noodles (especially udon noodles - thick and chewy!), and all kinds of berries. She also loves to snack on Joe's O's, goldfish crackers, and her beloved Baby Mum Mums.
• She's transitioned to whole milk. It wasn't very difficult to transition, but Kaitlyn still prefers her milk warm and from a bottle. She'll drink up to 24 oz. a day. It's going to be a challenge getting her used to drinking cold milk from a sippy cup.
• Teeth: Kaitlyn currently has three visible teeth, two on bottom and one on top. The second top tooth looks like it's just about to break through, and we see signs of a third top tooth and bottom tooth on their way.
• Talking. She continues to babble nonstop, but we haven't heard any distinct words yet. She tends to use "dada" more often than "mama," though we can't say that either is purposeful.  
• She's taken her first steps. I can't really say when this happened. When we were down in Huntington Beach during July 4 weekend, she would stand holding onto a table, then let go and take tiny steps toward me (usually just one or two before lunging forward and falling into my arms). She's been practicing this over and over the past few weeks. Just last weekend (at 1 year, 2 weeks) she started standing on her own without support. She's finally put the two together and can take a few small steps from a standing position.
• Sleep. Alas, Kaitlyn finally started sleeping consistently through the night at 11 months. We had it pretty rough with sleep training, as we battled teething, colds, loneliness, and other developmental milestones. Although she's pretty easy to put down at night, there are random nights when she'll wake up and cry for us. Sometimes she'll go back down after a few minutes, but other times she'll cry hard for up to an hour before I give in and have to rescue her. And since I don't want to bring her into our bed, we'll end up sleeping next to each other on the floor of her room. She actually sleeps really well when we do this, but I hope it doesn't become a habit. There was also a phase in the last month when she was sleeping through the night, but then waking up consistently between 5-5:30 every morning, ready to play. Thank God that phase is over.
  
• Things she can do on demand:
• stick tongue out and wag it from side to side
• hold a brush to her hair and pretend to brush it
• clap her hands together when I say "yay!"
• put a phone (or any object) to her ear and pretend she's talking on the phone
• wave goodbye
• blow kisses goodbye
• kiss us on the cheek (if we hold our face close to her)
• put both hands on her head when I say "oh no!"
• clasp her hands together and twist them when I sing "itsy bitsy spider." At the end of the song she always claps.
• Other things she does (not necessarily on demand):
• point at objects, especially her favorites: bubbles, balls, and balloons 
• flip through the pages of a book, point at the pictures, and babble like she's reading the book (she even raises her voice a few pitches)
• starting to feed herself with a spoon. She loves holding the spoon and dipping it into the bowl, then bringing it to her mouth. I usually have to help her to get the food onto the spoon. At least she gets the idea.
• Kaitlyn's schedule: Kaitlyn plays hard and tires easily, so we don't see her consolidating to one nap any time soon.  On weekends, we usually need to purposely run and errand or go for a ride so that she can wind down a little and rest in her carseat. Although her schedule may differ during the week at day care from the weekend, in general it looks something like this: 
• 6:00am:  Wake up, Bottle
• 8:00am:  Breakfast  
• 9:30am:  Morning nap 
• 10:30am:  Bottle 
• 12:00pm:  Lunch 
• 2:00pm:  Bottle 
• 2:30pm:  Afternoon nap 
• 4:00pm:  Snack 
• 6:00pm:  Dinner 
• 8:00pm:  Bottle, Bedtime

Enjoying her raspberries and blackberries.

"On the phone" with the Flipcam

It's amazing how quickly Kaitlyn is picking things up now. Each day is different and she is changing so fast. Before we know it she will be a walking, talking toddler!