12 Months and Growing!!!!

Stella Jean,

You are 1 YEAR OLD today!!! Sweet girl, we cannot believe how fast this year has gone by, I'm sure it's just a glimpse of how fast you are going to grow up, you are already such a little girl, please stay our baby for a bit longer. This past month we have watched you develop so much more than before, talking, almost walking (still not too confident), signing, playing independently, sharing, making friends, eating a ton of new foods (too many to list them all I think!), It's sure been a busy month of growing!! 

You are now wearing 18 month pants, most 12 months are too short! you had another growth spurt and your legs are so long now! and all 12 month tops, some 18 month ones too. You help out when we get you dressed, holding your foot up for socks, sticking your arms through their arm holes (somethings slightly impatiently!) holding legs up for pants, it's pretty helpful when you do this, but sometimes you still fight like the dickens to not have clothes on. You also like to put your scarf on yourself, and your hat, but I usually have to help you with the hat. You almost always take your socks off in the car, we put them on probably 4 or 5 times a day, depending on how many trips we take. You also have stopped fighting (most times) diaper time, thank goodness! 

Some things you love right now, your ducky, your baby, Abby, Lilly, mommy, daddy (in the mornings and mid day), hats, using a spoon, signing time, playing with stacking toys, music and dancing!, tickles, baths and swimming, walks, swinging (you got a swing for your birthday and have been in it every day since!), playing in the fridge, 'mixing' ingredients in a bowl, mommy's phone (you can turn the music on!), reading books and so many more things!! 

Some things you don't really love right now, teething :(, boundaries in the kitchen, not being able to be outside all day, being in a different room than mommy, daddy in the evenings haha, lilly when she's playful, the carseat (most times), daddy's phone (it doesn't have music...), bedtime, and a few other things that I cant think of.

You are eating Everything!! You had Indian food a week or two ago with some friends and LOVED it!! You ate the cumin rice, loved the chickpeas, loved the garlic naan bread, sucked down the mango lassie (yogurt drink), I cant wait to go back with you again! You eat like a champ (when you're not teething) most of the time, for breakfast you'll have any of the following, toast, yogurt, scrambled egg yolk, fruit, pan dulce, cheerios, oatmeal, pancakes. Lunch is any of the following, soup (you love Amy's minestrone!), chili, pizza, broccoli, kiwi, raspberries, blueberries, sweet potato fries, and many more things!! You are eating whatever we eat for dinner, which is awesome! I love that I don't have to make a separate dish for you, and that you'll eat anything we eat, including all veggies (if they are soft enough to chew without teeth), mac n cheese, some meats, stew, potatoes, tortellini, pasta with pesto, bread, and so many more!! You are such a great eater! You are also now wanting to feed yourself more and more, you'll let us get you sort of full, but then take the spoon and finish yourself, you are so proud of yourself when you use the spoon! 

You  have become quite the talker lately, picking up new words super quick! Your daddy told me the other day that he's going to have to curb the swear words from now on, not that he swears much, but you pick things up so quick that he's afraid of what you'll copy from us haha. Your new words include, ducky (whenever you see any sort of duck), baby, hi!, sleep, ow, yea, lilly (sounds like didee), ruff (like a dog), hat, and a few others i'm blanking on, but you are picking things up so quick! You even said your first phrase!! "Hi Baby!" It was so cute! You were playing with baby (my doll when I was a little girl that i've re-done and cleaned up for you, you love her). You are also signing more words, including hat (pats head), wash hands (rub hands like your washing them), dog (pats leg) all done (wave hands in air), sleep (bring open hand down front of face), train (slide two fingers over other two fingers), airplane ( hold out pointer, pinky, and thumb and point hand in air). I still don't even know if you know what a plane or train are, but you sign them randomly haha. You are learning so much baby girl, and we cannot wait to see what you pick up next! 

We are so proud of you Stella, we cannot believe that you are now a toddler, you are so much of a little girl it's unreal to us. We have so many adventures planned for this year as a family that we cannot wait to share with you!! First camping trips, first vacations, first swim lessons, first ski lessons (next winter), first bike ride (very soon!!!), and so many more firsts!!! We are so excited to teach you more new things and watch you learn and grow. You are such a smart little girl, I get asked all the time if you are 2, people are shocked to learn you are just now 1! Talking, signing, and all the things you pick up on super quick show us what a great learner you are, and that you are eager to learn more! I just put up alphabet stickers on the wall in your playroom, and you started touching and looking at them, I'm going to start saying the ABC's with you every day now, you'll know them in no time! 

Baby girl, we love you so much, and are so proud of you in every way! You are our perfect little girl, we couldn't have asked for more with you! 

Happy Birthday Stella!!!

Love, 

Mama and Dada