Dear Hazel,
You are ONE YEAR OLD! How did that happen?
You're a little chatterbox. You talk all the time. You have a handful of "real" words and a lot of babble.
Mama - Mom
Dada - Dad
Ahwa - Oliver
Nana - Banana (your favorite food!)
Hi
Uh-oh!
The other day, you were napping in the car with Daddy while I ran in to Rite Aid to pick up your prescription (yep, another ear infection), and when I got back into the car, you said "Hi!" and waved. Daddy didn't even know you were awake!
You eat... pretty much everything. Your favorite food (other than bananas) seems to be beans. Kidney, black, pinto, you don't care. You had your first taste of sugar (in the form of homemade buttercream frosting and cake) on your birthday. It took a while for you to figure out what to do with that cake, but I think you enjoyed it.
As of your birthday, you still had only two bottom teeth. They popped out at about 7.5 months, and that's all you've had until now! But as of a few days ago, your two top front teeth are poking through. I can see at least two more ready to show up, so you'll have some chompers soon!
As of this writing, you may be winding down on nursing. It happened at one year and three days. We were at Disneyland, it was really hot, really crowded, and you were just coming down with that aforementioned ear infection. You turned your head away and laughed any time I offered to nurse you. You went 16 hours, nursed the next morning, then 48 more hours. I thought you might be done, but you nursed twice this morning before refusing this afternoon, so we'll see where that's going. I have to say, my goal with you (as with your brother) was twelve months, but I sort of didn't expect it to be twelve months and three days. But it's up to you, kiddo! We've got a freezer full of milk, so you'll get it in sippy cups for a while yet.
You're not quite walking on your own just yet. I think you could, if you wanted to, but you may have inherited your mother's tendency to make sure you can do something fully before really trying at all. You're pretty confident when holding someone's fingers, or walking along furniture. You can even stand unassisted if you don't realize you're doing it! (You held a pouch with both hands, sucked the whole thing down, then realized you weren't holding onto anything other than the pouch and sat yourself down on the floor.)
You are 18 pounds 2 ounces (24th percentile) and 29 inches long (45th percentile). You wear size 3 diapers and mostly 12 month clothes, although you still fit fairly well into a lot of your 9 month outfits. And some 6 months. (Baby clothes are weird.)
You clap, wave, and point. You also sign "more" (in the form of a clap), and maybe "all done", although not consistently. If you're holding a small toy in one hand while we're getting you dressed, you automatically transfer it to the other hand once it's time for the sleeve. If you've got a toy and you don't want another child to take it from you, you will scoot around in a circle, keeping your back to the other baby. (Daycare told me you do this, but I think you figured it out from playing with Oliver.) You also will give toys to a baby who is crying.
What else? You're so good-natured! You smile and laugh. You adore your brother. You squeal when your Dad or I come back (to daycare, home, down the stairs...) You do not automatically taste everything (crayons, rocks, lint) like Oliver did. You look at things very intently, studying them, but you don't try and eat them.
We've been a family of four for a year, and you absolutely complete us! I can't imagine life without your smile or giggle. And I can't wait to see you learn and grow from here!
Love you, Sweet Pea!!
