The 12 Month Update

The major development this month is that Rose started walking on January 22, 2015, right around 11.5 months.  We knew it would happen soon since she'd been cruising for so long.  After just two weeks of walking, she was already moving around fairly easily and I even captured a video of her kicking a soccer ball while walking.

Taking her first steps on January 22, 2015, at 11.5 Months

Two weeks later, she was already playing soccer

By now she is so coordinated that she practically runs.  If she's getting tired, she starts falling all over the place, so we know it's time for bed or a nap.  She also asks for help getting up when she's a little tired.  When she isn't tired, she falls, gets back up on her own and keeps moving.  Poor Darwin gets chased around the house and we have to take up his water/food bowls when she's around. He does not like Rose's new mobility. We have to watch her like a hawk. When she's not terrorizing Darwin or trying to get his water, she's climbing stairs, trying to reach power cords, getting in the pantry, fridge, or dishwasher, or getting into the cabinets with the pots and pans.  We've baby-proofed the top of the stairs, but need a better system for the bottom and we've secured all the cabinets she shouldn't open. In addition to walking, she still dances on request and is now trying to figure out how to jump.

She loves the pots and pans

Walking, Dancing and Jumping (though the jumping was cut off abruptly - my apologies)

All the activity really wears Rose out.  During the month of January, while Rose was still in school, she was taking decent 1-1.5 hour naps some days. Since February, my parents have been staying with us, so Rose gets to stay with them. They try to take nap cues from Rose and lay her down when she acts sleepy.  A few times it's taken her 30 minutes of play in the crib before she would fall asleep, but lately she's out within a few minutes. Sometimes the 1-2 naps each day are about 30 minutes and sometimes they are longer.  Rose's room gets a lot of daytime sun, so we might need to try some blackout curtains to help with naps. I don't want to jinx us, but Rose has done a great job sleeping at night too.  Over the past two weeks she has mostly slept through the night from 7:30p-7:00am. There have only been a couple of times that she's gotten up super early (5 or 6am).

I must admit that I'm glad Rose is taking a break from school. It's awesome they let us pull her for two months, but I was getting frustrated with the lack of communication. They did help with the stressful drop off, but I didn't like that she was changed so infrequently.  Her diapers weren't that wet, which made me also wonder how often they offered her a drink.  I know that she is going to become a little spoiled with my parents, but I also know she is going to be loved, doted on, taken for walks, changed, and well fed while she's at home.  My mom also tries taking her to story time, the parks, and playgrounds as much as she can.  I expect she'll also be sick less for the remainder of winter. She still gets snotty, but we've had some crazy weather with temps all over the place (a week ago it was 70 and this weekend will be 25). The other benefit is selfish. I don't have to pack lunches or get Rose ready for school in the morning. My job is to just nurse her before I leave.

I am super excited that we made it to a year breastfeeding. Rose continues to be an awesome eater. She eats everything we do (that is not a choking hazard or too tough to chew) and still impresses everyone. Two more teeth have finally come in on the top, so she now has 6 teeth for chewing.  My mom, who loves to feed people, is in heaven! Rose's good appetite, coupled with the fact that she drinks a fair amount of kefir per day, has taken the stress off of breastfeeding completely. I no longer pump at work, and just nurse Rose before bed and in the morning.  I feel content and I think she does too.

Rose's bowels are also doing great. There was one day that she pooped like 5-6x, but the norm is 2-3x/d. The liners in her cloth diapers mostly handle her formed waste, so I'm not using the diaper sprayer much.  The poor thing frequently has breakfast interrupted while she poops in her highchair.  Her best poops are when she is walking freely and gets into her squat pose. Sometimes it seems like she's taking all she has to get the poop out. I'll have to capture it on video some time.

The 12mo doctor visit meant 3 more shots, her final Hepatits, first MMR, and chicken pox. I didn't even realize they developed a vaccine for the chicken pox! She was not happy about the shots at all and screamed for a bit. She recognized the nurse who gave her the shots afterwards and started yelling again.  Except for the shots, the visit went well and Rose continues to surpass age-related milestones. At 12mo, she is 28" (18th%) and 19lbs, 10oz (26th%). I guess she is becoming petite!

I leave you with some images from this month...

What a sweet little face with light brown hair

Enjoying the sandbox
She does have a lot of hair in the back!

Fearless on the slide at the playground during our 70 degree day in February

I really wanted to capture Rose's milestones for the first year as a record she can look back on and as a diary for myself.  Looking back at some of the posts from the past year have brought me so much joy and has allowed me to really see how much Rose has grown, changed, and developed in just 12 months.  I will mostly likely not post full updates like these every month moving forward, but will continue to share major events and milestones (for you, me, and Rose) as much as I can.  

I expect to have another post up soon detailing Rose's first birthday party!  Stay tuned.