Raven: 12 Months -

Here we are, almost a month late, but better late than never, right?

Actually, this will be the last of the monthly updates, mostly just because I (obviously) have a hard time keeping up on them. The photo shoots have gotten pretty crazy (both in execution and in editing), and I think any updates from here on out will be done every 3 months or just whenever she hits a major milestone. (Unless, you know, some insane new blogging idea seizes hold of me and I decide to take on another crazy project.)

Quick Stats:

Height: around 29.5″
Weight: around 19.5 lbs. (ish)
Clothing Size: 12 month size (although I’m thinking we might have to start phasing up soon)
Diaper Size: 4

Milestones Reached

Started to walk (!) on her own and had taken 5 or 6 steps in a row by herself by the time she officially hit the year mark
Says “moo” whenever we talk about cows, has *maybe* started saying “yeah” for yes, sometimes says “ah duh” (“all done”) instead of just “duh”
Can drink from her little cup independently
Has started trying to “brush” her own teeth with her toothbrush
Can stand up without holding on to anything (and go from standing to crouching and then back to standing)
Gestures at where she wants to go and at what she wants you to get for her

Physical Appearance

We have had many people comment that she looks like Boo from Monsters Inc. whenever her dark(ish) hair is in pigtails. I can totally see it. (The same people also try and convince us that we should start teaching her to say “Kitty” immediately. Understandable.)

What I Love About This Stage

We have finally reached the stage where she can start communicating her needs and wants, so that takes a lot of guesswork out of the picture. I always second-guessed myself on things like how hungry she might be or if she wanted me to get her something or take her somewhere, but now she’s pretty insistent, which makes the whole thing a lot easier on us.

Her personality has slowly been coming on stronger and stronger for months, but nowadays, we can see how naturally independent she is. She’s always hated having her limbs manipulated in any way (like if you try to show her how to do something and try to mold her hands to do it, she’ll freak out), and her fierce independence has only gotten more pronounced over the past several weeks. She likes to try everything entirely on her own (rather than allowing us to physically show her how to hold her hands), which, while challenging, is also (surprisingly) reassuring—I’ve ALWAYS wanted to have strong, independent children who were capable of doing things for themselves, so this is a good sign.

And this is weird to say, but I’m actually really glad that she’s old enough now to start on simple discipline. She used to pull out all our movies with reckless abandon and try to do the same with all our canned goods on our pantry shelf, but now that we’ve instigated firm (mini) time-outs for behaviors like that, she’s learned quickly not to do them. It’s pretty amazing, actually—if we put her in a time-out three or four times in a row for something, she usually doesn’t repeat the behavior (or at least not for a long time).

And can we just say, playing games with her just gets more and more fun? Oh man, I can only imagine how hilarious they’re going to be once she’s really talking a lot…

Oh, and one more thing—she’s let us cuddle her a lot for the past several weeks, which has been wonderful. She’s often squirmy and wanting to go explore stuff by herself, but lately (ever since I went back to work after spring break, actually), she’s been much more cuddly. I love the extra snuggles! (We just won’t talk about the mom guilt I feel for why she’s probably giving me more of them…)

Challenges

She had the worst diaper rash yet–complete with bleeding sores and redness almost all over–for almost two weeks, which was excruciating. We’re hoping to figure out soon what causes it so that we can prevent it from happening ever again.

With her growing sense of independence, she has also started to assert her will on things that weren’t an issue before. She used to pretty much eat everything she was given (and like it), but now she’ll push away foods we know perfectly well that she likes (and even when we know perfectly well that she must be hungry). We’re finding ways around it so far, but we’re hoping this particular stage of increased pickiness is just that–a stage.

Things I Don’t Want to Forget

The way she burrows her face into her blankie and/or her “Wubby” (stuffed pink elephant) whenever she comes across them. (And then when we say, “Awwwwww….,” she just keeps doing it, ha ha.)
The insistent way she’ll yell out “NANA!” (banana/food) whenever she wants us to give her another bite of something (and we’re not moving fast enough)
How she’ll let out a laugh every time Matt or I come home after being at work and often race as fast as she can toward us
How she “dances” now almost every time she hears music (by bobbing up and down)
The way she smacks her lips and sighs “Ahhh…” when she’s just given herself a long, cold drink of milk from her cup
How she loves holding the mail for me when we’re on our way in to the apartment after I get off work, and how she usually uses the envelopes/magazines to shade her eyes from the sun
The “cuddle cry” she’ll sometimes make right before we head to bed or right after I wake up in the morning—we know she still wants to sleep, but she just wants a little cuddle first. Both Matt and I race to try and be the one to go pick her up because she’s basically almost still asleep but just melts right into you when you pick her up. It’s just the sweetest.
How she’ll occasionally still pull something mischievous, like stuffing something she shouldn’t into her mouth and trying to crawl away as fast as she can, or inching towards the movies or food storage and smiling at us slyly (knowing that those are off-limits), then moving away as fast as she can and laughing her head off.