HAPPY 12 MONTHS SUGARCUBE!!
Although this is a few days late, and you weren't born on Valentines Day, you DID happen to come home on Valentines Day all those 12 months ago. So how cool is that! You will always be our sweet Valentine. But you LITERALLY where!
February 12th was your big day and while we did celebrate it, there's more birthday excitement this Saturday. So mommy's waiting to post about all the GLORIOUS birthday bash craziness then ;)
As for how I'm handling this huge mile stone? Well... You could say I'm at a complete loss for words. I can still see you, so vividly, as that tiny little newborn only hours old; all soft cries and slow motions. So who is this walking, talking, smiley baby face I look upon every morning? Have daddy and I really been at this parenting thing for 12 whole months? Well, I guess so, because here's the proof in pictures, tear!
AND THE BIG TWELVE!!!
Alyssa, I know your my child, and with that comes a huge amount of pride and favoritism, but SugarCube, I think ANY little girl would want to have you as their very own baby doll! That's what you remind me of. The sweetest, most precious, petite and perfect baby doll! How did daddy and I get so lucky with such a beautiful angel...
I just love this picture of you ♥ Even though you now only hold one of my hands to walk, and not even a whole hand at that, this picture will always remind me that now matter how big you get, how much you protest and no matter how you act, you will always need your mommy... Now to keep telling myself this when your thirteen, full of yourself, and fighting against mommy and daddy so hard for freedom, independence and taking on the world. If your anything like me, that's exactly the age this will happen too ;)
You're doing so much more now, compared to your eleven month update. You've been perfecting your walking, which is still slow and calculated but you fall less and less this way. You definitely prefer walking over crawling and, in fact, I hardly ever see you crawl anymore. You're either walking on your own, walking holding my finger or bouncing on your knees across the floor, which you've used as a form of walking for sometime. You talk quite a bit more too, and although these new words aren't perfect, you've added bye-bye, dog, yum, hi and done to your already perfect words of mama and dada! You also communicate "no" by shaking your head back and forth, usually whenever you're done eating or you don't like what I'm feeding you. Additionally, you use the sound "pssh" for your cat Peanut because mommy's always saying "Pssh Peanut" to scare him away from whatever annoying bad thing he's doing at the moment. You also make this high pitched squealing sound anytime you hear Peanut meow, which is the cutest! Basically, you're full throttle with learning to talk and communicate. You try and repeat most words and sounds you hear, although you're obviously still working on the pronunciation. Don't worry though and don't rush it baby girl. You have time :)
You love to sing and point to things that catch your eye; play games like peek'a'boo, hide'n'go'seek and lately your playing the tease mommy by sharing your snacks, then pulling them away just before I can eat them, game. Haha! I laugh every time while tickling you, saying "you little stinker. You better give me that snack!" You grin and giggle, knowing full well what your doing. I love it and you obviously think it's great fun too :) You love pictures of R and I, and recognize mostly dada in the photos while saying his name. Your not sure what to think about the home videos we make for daddy though, because each time your watching one, you get this almost upset look. Like, who's that baby playing with mommy?! Or who's that baby holding my daddy bear! That one really upset you, to the point where I had to go get your bear from the crib. All was well after that :) You L.O.V.E your grampa and grammy but grampa holds an extra special place in your baby heart. That's very clear. You seek him out often, always laughing so excitedly once you find him and when mommy goes to take you form his hold, you'll turn away from me and push yourself into his shoulder. I tease you about it but I love that you love your grampa so much :)
You continue to love books and even imitate mommy reading them, talking in a sing song voice and turning the book every which way while flipping pages. I love watching you do this! It seems your favorite book is a series called Little Blue Truck which is really neat because Daddy's favorite book as a kid was Little Red Car! Like father like daughter :) You've completely made the switch to table food for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a bottle first thing in the morning and before bed. Your favorite finger foods, so far, are grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, tater tots, peas, mandarin oranges, peaches, lunch meat, deli cheese, bacon, eggs and pancakes. Pretty much anything I've tried you on, you've liked, so long as it has some flavor and is easy to smash between those little gums. You still only have 4 teeth, two at the top and two at the bottom, although it seems you're trying to cut another one, somewhere in there. Maybe that molar daddy and I saw pop through all those months ago, before it went back down?
I still don't have your growth updates for this month, so I'll have to come back and update on that later. You're sleeping pretty well still. Two naps a day with the first one being 2 hours and the second 1.5 hours. Although, ever since we moved to Arizona and you and I started sharing a room, you've been waking through the night for a bottle. I'm sure you do this because I'm in there, and I should probably break you of it, but I look at it as an extra opportunity to get calories and fats into you. Maybe you'll finally be above the teen's in your weight this month :) You wear size 5 diapers, 12 month pants, 18 month tops and size 3 shoes, however you could probably move up to size 4, no problem.
You're in love with the outside world; anything from your back yard to the grocery store to a restaurant. Your little eyes are always bouncing, taking it all in, wanting to touch anything and everything you can get your small, squishy hands on. I love watching you explore. However, your exploitative nature isn't without it's insecurities. This month you've developed a moderate case of separation anxiety which reared it's head right after you got your first case of the sickies, last month. I spent an entire week, nursing you back to health, holding you while you slept, rocking you because all you wanted was cuddles, answering your every cry with a tender touch and warm hug, never being out of your sight. So I guess you decided, that's how it needed to be from now on, lol. It's gotten worse too though, because you've also forgotten how to play by yourself and your always hanging off my pant leg, crying/whining until I pick you up. Much to my enjoyment, you've learned the art of biting too, but I've gotten some advise from my super-mom sister so I think I have a way of breaking you from this :)
But enough about challenging behaviour! You have way more sweet behaviours than you do challenging ones, so I don't even like to list those :) But for the sake of documenting your growth and baby stages, heehee :) So onto your sweety pie traits! You love to give slobbery open mouth kisses and you even give them when I say "kiss, kiss" and pucker my lips. I love it! Sometimes you'll start to lean in for a kiss, but then pull away at the last minute, all the while grinning because you know I'll make a big deal over that missed kiss :) You don't give consistent hugs yet but you do hug your favorite stuffed animals, Mickey and your daddy bear, pretty often. Learning to walk is a pretty tiring business too, so when you need a break, you'll lay belly down on the floor and give this very sweet smile, while kicking and thumping just one leg on the floor. SO PRECIOUS! You love to touch my eye lashes and teeth with your tiny fingers and to play the copy cat game. I'll clap my hands, or slap my belly, or blink my eyes and you do the same, most of the time. This makes playtime really fun and full of laughs :) You're just so fun, all the time! I can't wait for daddy to come home so he can enjoy you just as much as I am...
You're such a blessing Alyssa Quinn. I say this almost every month but, Daddy and I both love you more then we knew a heart could love... Having you in our lives, has been nothing shy of extordinairy, exciting and fun! We couldn't have asked for a better baby or a bigger blessing meant for holding in our arms and hearts... As always, I look forward to the coming months with you, watching you grow and watching you build these new and complex skills!! I know you're no longer a baby-baby, becoming more this little girl in looks and personality every day, but I pray you keep this sweet and loving nature! It really works for you SugarCube :) Always remember daddy and I love you, love you, LOVE YOU! You're our world!
Happy One Year Sweety!
Love,
Mom & Dad
