The Wild Cards: Livvie at One

My Livvie Lou is one! To say that this year flew by is a huge understatement. And while it sounds cliche, it is true that it is bittersweet. It is so fun to see her reach new milestones and watch her personality grow, but at the same time, we are not planning to have more kids so I know this is the last time I'll have a one year old. I won't miss all of it, but there are certainly a lot of things I will miss.

Size: At her 1 year well visit, she was just over 20 pounds (58%) and 30 inches (78%). She seems like such a little peanut to me, but I guess not. She is still wearing 12 month clothes, but she is outgrowing a lot of them and moving into 18 month clothes. She wears size 3 diapers.

Foods: We started mixing some whole milk in with her formula. She didn't like it with the milk cold, but once we heated the bottle, she chowed down. She drinks about 4-5 6 oz bottles per day. She is still not great with a sippy cup, and it is time to transition her from bottles, so we need to pick up the pace on that. We call her our chow hound, because when it comes to real food, she loves to eat! Her favorites are blueberries, Ritz crackers, scrambled eggs, animal crackers, broccoli, and fruit cups (peaches, oranges, etc.).

Likes: Being carried. Looking at photos (the gallery wall, in particular). Her dollies, especially her little doll from Target and her Dora ballerina. Ben. Putting things inside of things (for instance, taking blocks out of a bin and putting them back in). Climbing in and out of her Pottery Barn chair.

Dislikes: Diaper changes, still. Baths, unless Ben is nearby (so we just give her showers). Being put down first thing in the morning or right after we get home from daycare. Taking medicine (she hates this with such a passion you'd think we were beating her from the cries, screams, and thrashing.)

Sleep: She sleeps from about 7:30 to 6:30. At daycare she takes two 1 hour naps. At home she takes two longer naps (2-3 hours), usually around 9:30 and 2:30.

Milestones: She is not walking yet, but she will walk around holding onto furniture, and she occasionally stands up for a second or two before losing her balance. I think she is close. I'm guessing she will be walking in the next month or two. No real words yet either. She "talks" a lot, but it is gibberish. She says words like Dada and yeah and no, but not with any clear indication that she knows what they mean. She will often point to or pick up her dolls and say "dah" so I think she might be trying to say doll, but who really knows? Despite the lack of words, she is a great communicator. If she wants something, she will crawl over to it and point and make noise until she gets your attention, then look back and forth from you to it until she gets it. Such a smart girl!!!

Here she is on the morning of her first birthday. She'd already started to pull off her headband. She wouldn't sit still in front of the chalkboard for a photo; she was much too interested in what Ben was doing. But that smile! Her smile truly lights up a room (and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom). :-)

Ben tried to help out, though as Grammy pointed out, it looks like he is choking her. Sometimes that is required to get her to sit still. :-)

Since she yanked out the headband, I tried to put her 1st birthday hat on her. I'd bought it for her party but forgot to put it on her. She wasn't having any of it. It was off her head in 2 seconds flat.