Caroline is 12 months old
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| This will be the last of the monthly 'caroline and monkey in the chair' pictures. You're just too much of a monkey yourself to get any decent shots! |
Dear Caroline,
One year old. I spent last night watching videos of you from the hospital. It feels like that was forever ago, yet also just the blink of an eye. With you, I've felt time speeding by more quickly (we've been busy with two), and all my attempts to slow it down and soak up your baby-ness haven't felt like enough. How did you get so big so fast? Here's what you've been doing this month:
* You learned how to give kisses, and you'll sometimes kiss on command. Your little open-mouthed, slobber kisses are so precious to me!
* For the last few weeks we've only been giving you 2 bottles a day, and this past week we cut them out entirely. Hallelujah! You have never liked your bottles, and every feeding was a battle. Now comes the game of "How do we get enough milk down you?" I think we're just going to give you soy milk since Kate still can't do the cow's milk. We can't risk her getting the wrong cup.
* You're an amazing eater. Champion eater, really. You eat anything and everything, and you scarf it down in record time. You're a good chewer, too. That may sound silly, but it's something I noticed since Kate used to just swallow all of her food whole. Your favorite foods are avocado, cheese, and strawberries. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that you've turned down. You're still adamant that you feed yourself, though. We cannot spoon feed you anything or you'll throw a fit.
* You're still a crawler. I would not have believed it if I'd been told 3 months ago that you'd still be crawling at your first birthday. You were pulling up and cruising everywhere at 8 months. But that's still what you're doing... and content to do so! You take 2-3 steps by yourself a few times a day, but you're in no hurry to walk. And I know I shouldn't want you to walk, but I think I'll be glad when you can. When you're on the ground all the time, every little thing goes in your mouth. It's hard when we're outside - you're crawling on rough pavement and eating leaves and mulch and who knows what. Lovely.
* Your words are hi, mama, dada, bye bye, ni-ni, and you love to shake your head 'no.' Of course these words aren't very clear, but they're definite attempts!
* Your favorite toys are the play kitchen and food, necklaces (you're very proficient in putting them on yourself), and basically anything that Kate has at any given moment. She's gotten SO much better about sharing with you and taking turns this past month instead of yelling at you. You also like to play with the bin of plastic containers I keep in the kitchen, taking the lids off and on.
* You are going through your "stranger danger" phase, and other than Mommy and Daddy, there are very few folks you'll go to without crying. Nursery at church hasn't been going so great, and it doesn't help that that's your usual nap time.
* Whatever Kate does, you do. Kate bangs her fork on the table, you bang on the table. Kate climbs up in my lap, you climb up in my lap. Monkey see, monkey do! You sure adore your sister.
Your first birthday party was a strawberry theme, and along with over 20 family members, we celebrated the first wonderful year of our sweet Caroline's life. We are SO thankful for you and your easy-going personality. What a precious gift God blessed us with one year ago!
We love you,
Mama and Daddy (& Kate, too!)
