Wednesday, December 17, 2014

one years old (and two months)

 These pictures are Althea at 12 months old, exactly.
I can't believe I haven't written about her birthday yet!  I don't even know where to begin!  Every day I feel like she learns more that I forget where she was just 2 months ago.  I do know this.  Less than 2 weeks after her birthday she became a walker.  It's funny because we never really had to work very much with her.  She just wanted to do it and just worked on it on her own.  It's like as soon as she learned to crawl she wasn't satisfied and was working to pull herself up to cruise immediately. She'd crawl to the couch and pull herself up even though she was super wobbly.  After she was more stable  she would slide toys around the house or her high chair or a garbage can…anything that she could push so that she could practice walking.   I love watching her walk.  This last week she has really improved and is pretty sure footed now that it's been a month and a half.

Looking at the pictures above make me happy.  The high chair picture was taken on her actual birthday.  We were in MA for the holiday weekend.  Our friends Tom and Kelley came out with their two youngest and we went for a hike at W. Meadow and had dinner and brownies.  A very fun time!   When we got back home to the city we had a second celebration with just our family.  The video that Kermit made shows moments from that sweet day.

Just last week I was finally able to wean this girl.  She is now drinking milk from a sippy cup and likes it.  I'm not sure her little system does though.  I need to talk with her doctor because even though she likes it now her bowels are all wonky.  She isn't sleeping through the night consistently but I blame teething.  Erin was here in November for 10 days and got her sleeping through the night.  Every time she would wake up Erin went in there to comfort her rather than me because if I went in there she would just want to nurse.  She was doing it! Erin trained her!  Then….monster molar decided to make it's way through. Ugh!  She's teething once again.  Another monster molar.  Seriously.  This could go on forever I think. Her pediatrician doesn't recommend numbing gels because of a rare but serious side effect. Figures.

Can I just say this girl loves to talk!  It's so funny because she thinks she is talking and she tells us stuff all the time.  She walks into the room makes and announcement and then walks away.  Comes back 30 seconds later with another important message.  It cracks us up.  She just loves it!  When I talk on FaceTime with the family…she wants to hog the time just to jabber and tell everybody what is going on here I guess.  She does have a lot of real words.  She doesn't use them in her jabbering really.  She uses them when she is pointing to pictures in a book or identifying a toy or something.  Not really in her monologues.   I'd say she has 20 words last time I counted.  Mama and Dada are at the top and she definitely uses them properly.   She calls all the sisters Ada.  Even herself.  But she has down Mama and uses it a lot.  It melts me.  She pats my chest and says Mama.  Love her!   She says these words for sure:  bear, ball, baby, moo, baa, owl, duck, dog, hoo (owl sound), bye bye, night night, uh oh (first word), teeth, eyes, nose, hair…..to name a few.

She loves to play Patty Cake and to sing songs like If you're Happy and you Know it, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ring around the Rosey….Still loves to be read to.  I can't have enough books for her especially lift the flap books.  She has liked pushing around a little basket with a baby doll inside.   She loves her baby doll.  Now that she walks I feel like she wanders around a lot. She gets into everything.  Toilet lids must be closed.  Trash cans put away.  Drawers will be pulled out and emptied.  Computers and all devices will be messed with.  Remote controls are a favorite as well.  She doesn't play with her toys much these days…everybody else's stuff is way more fun.

I thought having a Christmas Tree would be a disaster with a baby around.  She has liked it but to my surprise she has left it pretty much alone.  She loved helping to decorate but doesn't seem de-decorate it.  She loves to draw.  The girls have got her going on the doodle pad and with crayons on paper.  I have a feeling we are going to have some coloring accidents in our future.  We have art supplies everywhere and I think its just a matter of time before our walls or couch or floor become her canvas.

She loves to snuggle me.  The rest of the family can't get her to snuggle much because she is always go go go but boy she loves it when she does.  She strokes my arm or face and just nuzzles right in.  Love that sweet baby!  I seriously can't get enough.  Sometimes it is hard to go back to having a baby but I know how fast they grow and I'm truly just trying my best to soak every moment up.   Other things in life can wait just a little longer.   I'm so glad this girl came along.  Love her.