1 Year Old!

The sign is backwards, but Mary Francis can just show you - Our girl is 1!

I tried to get her 12 month picture on her actual birthday (Monday, Jan. 24th) but it didn't go s well. See below...

Since her big party was on Saturday, we just celebrated at home with the 3 of us on Monday evening. The cake and cupcakes were long gone by that point, but we let her have some ice cream.

We finally got some 12 month pictures yesterday, but it was not easy with a wiggly 1 year old! We did our best. This will probably be the end of the "month-by-month" pictures.

Mary Francis had her 12 month check up today and she got a good report! She is on-track or ahead of schedule on everything developmentally. Here are her latest stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 8 oz (59th %ile)

Height: 28 1/14 in (23rd %ile) - I was so surprised by this! She seems tall to me.

Head circumference: 46 cm

8 teeth (4 on the top and 4 on the bottom)

It seems like Mary Francis learns new words every day! She consistently says some words like "dada", "mama," "dah" (dog), "up" (with her arms reached up), "ah duh" (all done), and some new words like no, baby, book, water, milk and poop (that one was a surprise this morning!). She is also starting to repeat words that we say (we'd better be careful!) She will also carry on full conversations with us, the pets, other babies, etc in a foreign baby language that we don't quite comprehend. She accentuates these monologues with hand gestures and head nods. It is adorable. She will say "E-I-E-I" to request her favorite song "Old MacDonald" (or as we sing it "old Mary Francis") Get it? E-I-E-I-O? She really loves puzzles and her baby dolls these days. If I ask her, "Where is your baby?" she will crawl away and find the nearest doll and pick it up and give it a hug and a kiss. She loves books and likes to help turn the pages. She loves a good round of peek-a-boo and thinks it is hilarious. She has just started dancing with is about the cutest thing ever. When music comes on she kind of bounces up and down and shakes her tiny little fanny. I love it! She is crawling like crazy (man, is she fast!) and she loves for us to chase her. She can stand up without pulling up on anything and walks all over the place with her pushcart. No independent steps yet, but we think it will be any day. She can also climb all the way upstairs by herself (with a very nervous parent RIGHT behind her, of course). She loves going to the pool with her Daddy and can jump in from the side with help and will close her eyes and hold her breath if you ask her "Do you want to go underwater?" She is also a champ at blowing bubbles. She is a great eater - we've given her everything except shellfish and nuts and she rarely turns her nose up at anything. She loves a good grilled cheese, and clementines are a new favorite fruit. We have made the transition from formula to whole milk and we are trying to wean her off of bottles. She is mostly using sippy cups these days. She is developing a bit of a sassy streak (did I mention that she is saying "No" ... a lot). She gets very frustrated when she doesn't get what she wants or something is taken away from her. She is also very attached to us (particularly me) these days and doesn't like being separated. This is making the day care drop offs harder for everyone. But, most of the time, she is very happy and great at entertaining herself. She is an absolute joy!

Mary Francis with a new baby doll (Anna left this one accidentally last weekend and MFG loves it! She is just the right size)

This is also her favorite sitting position. Isn't this called a hurkey? Maybe we have a cheerleader in the making.

Now that she is over 20lbs and 1, we turned the car seat around. What a big girl!

And this one just makes my heart melt. Tommy is such an amazing dad, and Mary Francis adores him.

Sweetest girl, you are a more amazing gift than we ever could have imagined. We are so incredibly blessed to have such a happy, healthy child!

It has been a wonderful, exhausting, blissful, exciting, life-changing year!!