Dear Alyssa - Month 12

Dear Alyssa –

You’re officially one year old. Actually one year + one week but as usual, mommy is a bit behind! It’s hard to believe looking at you now that you spent the first 7 months of your life screaming ALL. DAY. LONG and NEVER sleeping more than 2 hours straight.

There were times I wasn’t sure we’d make it, but I’m so glad you turned the corner! Now you’re such a happy little gal for the most part (unless you’re tired or hungry).

You sleep like a champ most nights, usually sleeping from about 7pm – 7am, give or take half an hour. You’re growing like a weed. At your one year appointment, you weighed 23.5 pounds (95th percentile). They said you were only 29 inches tall which would put you in the 40th percentile for height. Mommy and daddy don’t think that’s quite right though.

You eat an astounding amount for someone your size. We literally can’t put food on your plate fast enough. Mimi calls you a little vacuum cleaner. You’re not a huge fan of chicken or tomatoes but will eat most other things, including veggies like broccoli and cauliflower when you’re in the mood. You just officially finished weaning so you’re no longer nursing. Over the last month, we cut back slowly to 3 sessions a day, then just early morning and before bed, and then just before bed. You’re definitely getting enough food but now our next challenge is making sure you’re getting enough fluids now that you’re done nursing. You’re not quite as good at drinking water as your brother was. But we’re working on it! And you love popsicles so that helps.

You’re wearing size 4 diapers and mostly 12-18 month clothes although you can fit into some 2T shirts, some 9-12 month pants and some 18-24 month pjs.

You’re just about ready to take off with your walking. You can stand for extended periods of time and cruise around like crazy with a walker or holding someone’s hand. So far you’ve taken up to 4 steps unassisted but in the next few weeks I think you’ll definitely figure it out.

You love following your brother around and trying to steal his toys and water bottles. He got a play tent for his birthday and you absolutely love crawling in there and peeking your head out. You’ve also just recently discovered a love for books, which we’re so happy about. You continue to have no interest in the TV and would much rather spend your time open and closing drawers and cabinets, lifting things up onto a table and back down, and putting things in and out of various containers.

You can show off your pouty lip with the best of them when you don’t get your way and aren’t afraid to tell us loudly how you’re feeling. You got several new teeth this month. You rarely let me get a good look in there so it’s hard to tell but I think you’re up to at least 7.

You’re still not the best napper…but on a good day you’ll take a short nap around 9:30 and another around 1:00.

You say mama and dada, along with various other sounds and your favorite thing to do is point at the things you want and say “uh uh” until someone brings them to you.