12 Months Old

12 months old?!?! That's what adds up to one whole year. (Obviously since I've posted tons of birthday stuff!) I decided not to do this post in a letter to Eva since I wrote her one the night before her birthday and this is only a week later. Instead I want to share all of the neat things that Eva is doing on a daily basis.

Monday afternoon we had Eva's 12 month check up at the pediatrician's office. Here are the official stats:
Height: 28 inches (15th percentile)
Weight: 18 lbs, 2 oz (5th percentile)
Basically, they said that she is petite but very healthy and growing at a normal pace for her. Since she still fits into plenty of 6-9 month clothes I figured she was small for her age. Plus if you look at the DNA she got from Ryan and me, it is unlikely she will grow up to be an Amazon woman. My grandma is 5'2", my mom is 5'2", I am 5'2" ... are you seeing a pattern here? As long as she's healthy, that's what matters! She also had to get blood work done (just standard, everything's good) and a few shots and I've never seen her cry so much for so long. Seriously an hour later at home she was still crying big fat tears. Broke my heart.

I wish that I had written down for myself Eva's daily routine every other month so that I could look back and see what our days were like, but I didn't. Here is what her days look like now:

8:15 AM Good Morning! Nurse and play for a while
9:00 AM Breakfast - usually fruit with yogurt or oatmeal
9:30 AM Play time
10:00 AM Walk or errands or the library
11:00 AM Nap
12:30 PM Wake up! Nurse
1:00 PM Lunch - fruit or vegetables and maybe some cheese or meat
1:30 PM Play time. This also my best chance for getting errands in because she is awake, her tummy is full, and she's very happy.
3:30 PM Nap
5:00 PM Wake up! Nurse again.
5:15 PM Play with Daddy when he get's home!!!!! 
6:00 PM Dinner - veggies and whole grain pasta or brown rice. Sometimes a few bites of what we're eating.
6:30 PM Play time or going with us to do whatever we do. Lots of night's we're busy with youth or other things during this time so Eva tags along.
7:45 PM Bath Time
8:15 PM Goodnight! Nurse and go to sleep
10:30 PM Dream feed
And then she usually wakes up once in the night to nurse again around 4 or 5 AM.  It's not that bad. Twice in the past week she's slept through the night so I'm hoping that she's headed in that direction :) (I know that lots of people would suggest letting her cry it out more in the night but for now I'd rather not. It's good to be able to make your own parenting choices based on what's best for your family.)

Looking at the photo above, you can see that Eva is still using a pacifier. A couple months ago I started saying, "Binkies are just for sleeping. You don't need one when you're awake," and now as soon as we come in to pick her up from her crib she hands us the binky. It's like her cute way of telling us that she's ready to be awake. Love it.

We spent many, many days at the pool this summer. She loved the wave pool at Hawaiian Falls. She would sit in her floaty and put her hands up in the air every time the waves hit. My future beach diva.

Aside from training for to be an Olympic gymnast, she's also enjoying play time in so many ways. She likes to dump out all the toys from all of her baskets. She never worries about the mess it will make and doesn't mind that somebody else will have to help clean it all up. When she hears music from her toys or on the iPod she bounces her little body up and down and dances. She likes to watch balls roll across the floor and likes to drop balls into containers.

I made her some homemade playdough that is safe for her to eat. Haha, I guess just because it's safe doesn't mean that it tastes good! It was made with lots of flour and salt... she had to learn not to put it in her mouth and to mash it instead. I also bought her some toddler crayons back on the first day of school - her first "school supplies." She mostly wants to eat the crayons so we're still working on that. I visit lots of blogs that have ideas of things to do with toddlers and this was a fun one - shucking corn (below).  A corn of cob cost 25 cents and it was fun to have her pull off all of the leaves. She liked the corn leaves much more than the cob itself.

At one year Eva can say  hi, bye-bye, Mama, Dada, Nana, and Papa. She can wave hi and bye-bye. She can blow kisses. give big wet sloppy kisses, and give a high-five. Eva has 8 teeth - 4 on top and 4 on bottom. She can follow simple directions like "Come here," "Give me the ball," and "Can I have a kiss?" .  Eva can do sign language for more, cup, milk, and all done. She can quickly climb stairs and knows how to go down steps on her tummy. When we hide something from her, she knows that it's still there and will look for it. She will even use a blanket or bucket to hide her own face when she wants to play peek-a-boo. It's pretty funny the first time your baby puts a bucket on her head and knows that she's being silly and playing a game with you. *** Update: You took 20 steps today without falling down!!!! 

 We're working on using a spoon and fork right now. She does a good job at sharing the spoon - I scoop, she puts the spoon in her mouth. I will sometimes let her use the spoon and bowl towards the end and that's always a big fun mess! She hasn't become a picky eater yet but I know that's very typical for toddlers so I'm ready. For now she is happy to eat most fruits and vegetables but will eat as many cheerios as I would let her even if she's told me that she's all done with the rest of her food. We've given her chicken and ham this month - she is a vegetarian no longer! She is also bottle free - only sippy cups for this one year old. (This isn't actually a huge deal since she rarely liked to take a bottle). She drinks water or whole milk from her cup although I am also still nursing her.

Eva is the best little helper ever! Putting laundry in the washer and dryer? She's there. Need something from the refrigerator? Right behind you.  It can be challenging but I love it.

As emotional as it can be to watch your infant grow into a toddler it is also so freaking amazing. There are times when Ryan and I look at each other and say, "WHO IS THIS???" She learns so many new things so quickly. We were watching her play the other night and noticed that the way she interacts with her toys is changing as she understands more and has distinct preferences. (Notice a lack of bows in many of her pictures? Distinct preferences.)  It sounds simple but it's really cool to see the changes in her.

 We love our sweet munchkin soooooo much!!!!  On to the next year.....