Sweet Pea is ONE YEAR OLD!!!

What a blessing this past year has been. God knew the perfect little person to add to our family – and that little person is Sweet Pea.

She has the sweetest personality of any baby I’ve ever met!

Eating: She is drinking 10-16 ounces of formula per day now. Sometimes she does not want her 12pm & 4pm bottles, but most of the time she at least will drink 2 of the 3 ounces in those bottles. I guess she is naturally weaning herself, which is very nice.

Last month I thought our baby food days were numbered but then, she suddenly eagerly started eating her baby food. I’ve still introduced her to many table foods and she eats them with no problem. She still does not bring food to her own mouth! If she would just learn to do this, I think I could transition her to table foods even more. I know it will all happen in time.

This month, she ate 2 jars of baby food per meal (4 oz). She went through a growth spurt for a couple days and was eating 3 jars per meal.

The bottle and formula wean will start soon!

Sleeping: Sweet Pea started waking early from her afternoon nap over the past couple of weeks. I shortened her morning nap by 15 minutes and she started sleeping well for the afternoon nap again.

Milestones: Sweet Pea is officially very mobile!! Early this month she started what we called “The Frog Crawl”. She would push with her little toes and feet and propel herself forward. She looked like a little frog! It wasn’t long after she started this that she learned to get into a sitting position from her “crawling” position. Then, while Dave was in Haiti she started crawling on her hands and knees! And now, she is perfecting her speed. She can crawl anywhere she wants to now, much to the delight of her big sister!

I’ve been giving Sweet Pea a sippy cup and she has learned how to get water from it.

On July 20th I went to get Sweet Pea up from her afternoon nap and found her standing holding on to the rails of her crib!

Words: Sweet Pea will randomly say “Mama” but I am not sure she knows that is my name yet. She now consistently signs “all done” and “more” while eating and she knows exactly what those mean!

Teeth: At one year old, Sweet Pea has two teeth.

Sisters: Our new morning routine includes the girls getting down from the breakfast table and playing together before Sweet Pea goes down for her nap and before Little Bug goes to her room time. They like to get our Little People play sets (we have the farm and playground) and play with those together.

Little Bug tends to be a little more “rough” with Sweet Pea than I would like (laying on her and, honestly, doing what I would picture brothers doing with “wrestling” type moves!) but Sweet Pea loves it to a certain degree. I love it when Little Bug makes Sweet Pea laugh as she was doing in this picture below!

Favorite toys/activities: Sweet Pea is enjoying her newfound mobility! She crawls all over the living room and kitchen. She enjoys playing with anything that her sister pulls out for them to play with. She still enjoys her jumperoo. I mainly put her in it when Little Bug is watching her show while I prepare our lunch because I don’t want Sweet Pea watching TV until she is two.

Personality: Sweet Pea is just…sweet. She saw a computer mouse over by her Daddy’s desk in the living room. We are teaching her that playing at the desk and with the cords is a no-no. (Clue #1 is that she already pretty much leaves the desk alone – after only a few times of being told no!) So, one day she sees this mouse laying on the floor. I was in the kitchen cleaning up dishes. I saw her see the mouse. I could tell she wanted to go after it. Instead of impulsively going for it, she turned to find me and I could just tell she was asking me, “Mama, is it okay?”. I told her she could play with it and then she went for it!!

Diapers/Clothes: Nothing has changed here. Still size 4 diapers and 9 month or 12 month clothing.

Things I want to Remember:

• At bathtime she kicks her legs furiously in the water to make big splashes.
• When she is on the changing table she uses her feet to pick up stuff that is on the other end of the table! She’s picked up her wipes, lotion and desitin this way.
• When I go to get her up from a nap or in the morning she is so.happy. She kicks her legs, waves her arms and has the HUGEST grin on her face.
• When I lay her down for naps and at night, I stand at her bed to hug and kiss her and tell her goodnight, but she is usually pushing me away because she just wants to get in her bed and go to sleep!
• Yes, she is the easiest, sweetest baby alive – I am convinced.
• At meals, she wants her next bite now! We are working on learning to say “please”.
• After her bath she will play peek-a-boo with me using her towel.
• She loves her family. I love this about both of my girls. They both just simply adore all their family members and get so excited when they see them.
• Sweet Pea somehow knows when we are about to leave or if someone else is about to leave because, without prompting, she starts waving goodbye.
• Like her sister, Sweet Pea is a huge Mama’s girl, but they both adore their daddy and crave his attention.
• Sweet Pea loves music. When it comes on Sweet Pea starts dancing.

Schedule (11 months old):

8am wake up, bottle, breakfast

9:30-11:15am nap

11:30-12pm Independent Playtime

12:00pm bottle, lunch

1:30-4:00/4:30pm nap

4:30pm bottle

5:30pm dinner

7:00pm bath, bottle

7:30/7:45pm bedtime

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, SWEET PEA!!!

- Elaine