12 month love Bug

Ok, I'm going to cry. Ok, I already have. This is going by way too fast little Smoosh. You are growing into such a beautiful little girl. I now understand how my mom always told me that "you won't understand how much you can love until you have a child." My heart hurts with how much I love you. I have had such a fun time planning your bday party.

I am so sad that Nana had to get a full time job, which means I have to essentially quit working the few hours that I have been. Plus, we are both going to miss Nana Wednesdays :(

We have a little women now, or at least it seems.  Sophia, you are full of life and so much fun to be around.  You still love your "nursie" time and eat whenever you want.  Sometimes you eat every 4-5 hours, and sometimes you eat on the hour (especially if you aren't feeling the best).  Its up to you.  I honestly can't get over your darling personality. You are so much fun and make us laugh. You love to make us laugh too. And that hot temper of yours.....you will definitely be a women with an opinion and have the fight in you to make a change in this world! I don't see you as the quiet girl in school. We will see :)

You are a lot more independent now, which means you will play by yourself for a bit and sometimes I catch you reading books. so cute :)You love to look at the pictures and turn the pages. But of course your favorite time is to cuddle :) some of my favorite days are when we decide to stay home and relax, not change out of our Jammie's until noon and play and snuggle. On some days we will lay down together and nap. I love these moments.

Your laugh is the cutest sound I have ever heard.  Drinking out of a straw is preferred.  You are starting to follow directions more. Ya for communication! You are smarter than I give you credit for because you know what I am saying. You also take things in and are a deep thinker.  You are also a Fast little bugger. If the baby gate is down or the dog food is accidentally left down, you have tunnel vision and are there in 2 seconds. I can't let u out of my site. My favorite thing is your kisses which you have no problem giving numerous throughout the day. They are my fav!!!  They melt my heart.

You have tried most foods now.  We aren't doing wheat, or dairy, but other than that you are really enjoying food and eating when mom and dad eat.  Lil' miss independent won't eat if mom or dad tries to feed you from a spoon.  You want to do it yourself.  So you eat anything you can grasp from peas, banana and avocado to chicken and black beans.  You also love egg yolks every morning for breakfast and always want watermelon. 

When you get mad or frustrated, everyone knows.  Because you wear your heart on your sleeves, nothing is hidden.  Lately, you have been hitting or head butting....Yikes!  Geez, how did I get so lucky to have to try and deal with that :)  You are my precious angel even with your "passion" :)  Like father like daughter I guess.  According to Yia Yia Gwen, your daddy was quite the "passionate" child as well.

It seems as though you are transitioning to one nap, but some days you definitely need two still.  We found a wonderful Pediatrician whom we both love!  Ya!  Fourth times the charm :)  Dr. Jennifer Ash is a Naturpathic Physician  who specializes in pediatrics and has young children herself.

 baby girl

 Your first Mariners Game (you loved all the people and the noises, but as soon as you got a taste of the ground, all you wanted to do was walk around, so we left early)

 our little dare devil.....always climbing up and on everything

 "where's Sophia???" hiding under your night stand.  Once again, always climbing in and on everything.

Sophia's Favorites:
Giving your dollies kisses and rocking them, real life animals (can't wait to take you to the zoo), glass figurines (I let you give them kisses then we put them nicely back up on your shelf), open mouth kisses, climbing and sitting in things, pushing the dining chairs and your high chair around the wood floors, swings and parks, dogs and cats, baths and showers with mom and dad.  You love nature and to be outside.  One of your favorite things is listening to the birdies.  You have had lots of fun going to dad's football games every Sunday.  You have to touch and play with everything.  The most precious is when you plop yourself down in the middle of flowers and pick them and smell them.  You also love to play in the rocks.  Nana has a secret garden that you like to look at too, because there is a small chair just your size that you like to sit in.  And Papa Jon gave you a shovel and pale last week.  You played in the dirt for an hour. 

 so exciting to eat your food!

 refusing to go to bed sitting in your dollies cradle

swinging makes you crack up laughing.....its so much fun!  By the way, in this picture you clearly don't match.....you had an obsession with this zebra vest all day and wanted to wear it :)

Words:
clock, lion and kitty sounds, dada, mama, nana, yia yia.  You have tried to say many other words, And lots of mumbling. You are a talker for sure!

 beautiful eyes 

 big girl car seat facing forward.....car rides are much easier :)

 playing football at dad's football games at LBA park

 happy girl

Stats:

• weight--21.5 pounds
• teeth--8 (four on top and four on bottom)
• height--30 inches
• nutrition--nursing, eating 3 meals a day, drinking water and coconut milk
• going to bed between 8-9pm, waking up for the day between 7-830am with some feedings in between.  napping 2-3 hours total during day

 sitting in a basket

 picking flowers then smelling them :) so sweet

serious face

New Skills:
You love to point to your mouth, eyes, nose and especially your belly button.  It's so cute :)  You try to find others belly button too.  You are trying to use a spoon. (hello mess!)  You "brush" your teeth when mama does.  Just yesterday, you climbed onto the couch and we are trying to safely teach you how to get off.  You kick a ball, point with your finger to household items and run from daddy when he chases you.  You also love to follow orders like, "go get your frog and put him on the chair."  We do this all day long.  You dance to music or to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song every morning.

One of my favorite things you do is pull on your clothes, which signifies "shirt or pajamas."  You look at me like "look how smart I am mom." The other thing that melts my heart is reading time.  It is probably your most favorite :)  You will pull a book off the shelf and bring it to me and plop yourself down on my lap to read it to you.  You have your favorite books....it seems as though we read the same ones over and over again and you don't get bored.  You also like specific pages in the books and if I turn the page too quickly, you turn it back.

I've realized that taking you to someones home that isn't baby proofed for a 1 year old Tasmanian devil like yourself is out of the question.  We have tried this two times now, and I left with you exhausted, sweating and so tired I needed a nap.  Only baby proofed homes until you learn to not run all over and pull everything off the tables. :)

Sophia, you are such a darling person.  I love spending every second with you and I can't wait for this year and all the wonderful memories we will make! Love your mama