1 Year Old

How did this happen? How did my little baby, that I just brought home from the hospital, turn a year old today? I guess time flies when you're having fun. And this year has been a blast!

Last year at this time, people were giving me those pitiful looks and wondering if I was having twins.

But, as soon as she was born, it was all worth it. She was perfect.

I hardly recognize her in these old pictures anymore. She has changed so much!


She is still into her books. She loves her Elmo books. She calls him "mmmm". She finds him on every page. She also likes animal books. She will make the sound or sign for many of the animals now.

She has finally weaned herself. She was down to just nursing in the morning and at night. But, she just stopped nursing one Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago. So, we basically made it to a year. Now when she wakes up, I take her a cup of formula and she drinks it while she is either snuggling in my lap or watching the cars out her window. As soon as I pick her up out of her crib, she usually does the sign for car until I open her window shade so she can watch them. This is how she drinks her milk at night as well before she goes to bed. She usually drinks about 12-20 oz. of formula a day.

She is still kind of a funny eater. Some days she eats great and some days she doesn't. Her favorite foods right now are broccoli, bananas, and cheese. We usually give her some of whatever I make for dinner. So, she isn't very picky. She just doesn't eat a lot of it. She loves to drink juice. She likes apple and white grape juices. She is still watching her videos while she eats. But, we have had a few meals without it.

Her communication has grown so much. She knows a lot of signs and sounds for things. She has watched the sign language videos so many times that she does the sign that is coming next. So, if "flower" is on, then she will start doing the sign for "hat" because she knows that it is coming on next. Here she is signing, "hat".

A lot of her signs are her own rendition of the actual ASL sign. Here she is signing "train". She does it when she hears the train whistle or other loud trucks outside that she thinks is a train.

Other signs:

~dog, bird, bunny, monkey, fish, baby, ball, milk, please, diaper, sleepy, eat, car, balloon, book and butterfly

Some "words"/sounds she is saying:

pa pa-for Pawpaw and Papa Paul

zzzzzz-bee or bugs

meow-cat

moo-cow

fowa-flower

fsh-fish

bu bu-banana

pu pu-paci

si-outside

voom-vroom for a car

fff-elephant

fff-ruff for a dog

mmm-Elmo

mmm-moon

aaaa-roar for a lion

ha-hot

It is so fun to be able to communicate with her now. I think she makes up signs as well and then she gets frustrated when we have no idea of what she is talking about. :)

When we say, "Madeline, do you want to take a bath?", she starts heading for the bathroom. She has really enjoyed her baths lately and has really been enjoying her bubbles.

She is sleeping great! She usually sleeps for about 11-13 hours at night. She goes to bed about 7:30-8. She seems to be down to one nap a day now. I usually lay her down around noon. She will sleep anywhere between 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours. It depends if there is a lot of noise outside of our condo or not. Unfortunately, they always seem to be leaf blowing during her nap time. She usually wakes up pretty happy. Many mornings, we can hear her talking in her room. When I go in to get her, she is sometimes just sitting up and playing with things in her bed. Other mornings, she is standing up, anxiously waiting for us to get her. But, she usually has a smile on her face. I'll keep her as my alarm clock over any store bought one anyday. :)

She is still a very active little girl. She loves to run around outside, climb up on anything and dance. This past weekend she was extra snuggly. Maybe she is starting to be a little more snuggly! But, most likely she was just a little hesitant about all the strangers around her for Thanksgiving.

She continues to bring so much joy to our hearts. Our love just keeps growing and growing for her with each passing day. We can't wait to find out what this next year has in store for her.

Happy Birthday, Madeline!