Things I don't want to forget

Helping DH pick out the monthly pictures to put in a collage nand looking at a picture of her on the day of her birth next to a picture with her head turned the same way last week. I got all teary. My how much changes in a year!

Sprout doesn't want to be held most of the time. As soon as she can, she wants down! She wants to crawl or walk holding on to one (not both!) hands. She's gonna take off one day soon and we won't be able to stop her.

She wants to drink out of a cup. Not a sippy cup, not with a straw, but just like the big people do. So I started giving her a cup with a little bit of water in it. She has actually been doing surprisingly well. I found one of her sippy cups that has handles and that makes it a little easier for her, but she does well with a plain cup, too. She even drank out of a glass. She still takes her milk from a straw sippy, but pretty soon, I'm not sure if she'll even need that!

I've officially dropped her bedtime nursing session. I still have really mixed emotions about it, but we're both doing well. Now we're down to only nursing first thing in the morning and that one will drop next week, probably. I'm really sad that this time is ending, but it is rather liberating, too. And Sprout hasn't missed a beat. She's ready to drink and eat like a big girl now, so who am I to stop her?!

She finally caught on that I was trying to show her how to blow. Of course, she's a week too late for candles, but it's still cute and she looooves it when anything blows on her face. In our hotel room last weekend, she just stood over the air conditioner letting it blow her. Too funny.

She rode her first rides at a theme park last weekend - a little boat ride with daddy and a carousel with both of us. She loved both of them. Mostly, though, she loved this little snail that was in a playground area (see picture above). Silly girl.

I bought her new shoes. Size 4! She's probably about a 3.5 now, but good luck finding that in baby shoes.

Her 12 month sleepers are getting too small. We're going to have to jump to 18 months soon. Luckily, all the other 12 month clothes still fit.

Little girl is growing so fast! We're excited about Halloween this weekend. She'll get to wear her Farm Dress again. No Trick-or-Treating, but we'll sit out with the neighbors and give out candy.

One year check-up, travel, and weaning

No, I haven't gone missing. Things have just been crazy around here.

Sprout had her 1 year check up and she's doing great. She weighed 20.4 pounds (39th percentile) and was 30.75 inches tall (91st percentile). Still long and lean, but no worries about her weight gain. She was trooper with her shots and charmed everyone, as always. Unfortunately, we think that she picked up a tummy bug at the doctor's office.

We headed out for a fun weekend at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia where Sprout rode her first amusement park ride with her daddy. Pictures to follow soon. In the car on the way up she started vomiting. And had diarrhea. It was ugly. Luckily, by Saturday morning she seemed to be feeling much better. We thought we might have to buy her more clothes since I had only brought three extra outfits! It turned out to be a fun time with perfect weather. Grandma (my mom) came a long so that DH and I could have a date night and go back to the park to enjoy their scary Halloween activities. We were thankful, for sure.

We're down to 1 or 2 nursing sessions a day. I say "1 or 2" because I'm a wimp. I had decided to drop the bedtime feeding, but since Sprout has been a fussy mess the last few days (in addition to her illness, she's got a molar ready to pop through) and she was asking to nurse last night, I just couldn't refuse. So she's had a cup at night once. She's fine and once she's back to herself, it won't be a problem for her, but I'm a little emotional about the end of breastfeeding. I was planning to be weaned by my LasVegas trip in less than 2 weeks, but I'm not sure if it will happen. No big deal if it doesn't, but I'll have to pump, which will kind of stink. I know we're both ready and that she'll be find once she's weaned. It's just that I'm having a hard time letting go. It continues to baffle me how quickly she is growing up.

Birthday Party Pictures!

Things I don't want to forget - Birthday Edition

My baby girl is now a year old. I am still in shock and thinking constantly about how much things have changed in the last year. And remembering how blessed I am to have such a beautiful, amazing little girl.

We started a birthday tradition that DH and I would separately each buy Sprout a book for her birthday and write an inscription in it. We'd like to do this every year. This year, I got her I Love You, Little One by Nancy Tafuri. DH got her Daddy's Girl, by Garrison Keeler. Both are board books that she can enjoy now and that we can keep for her. DH also got her a silver bracelet and had it engraved with a special message.

We went out to an Italian restaurant for dinner and, for the first time, we ordered Sprout her own meal (kid's ravioli). She loved it. We came home and had a cupcake with a candle and sang her "Happy Birthday." We were going to give her another present, but she was just too tired, so we'll save the rest for party day on Saturday.

She's a special little girl and I love seeing her grow and learn every day.

Things I don't want to forget

Better late than never, right?

Sprout loves pointing now. Sometimes she's actually trying to communicate and sometimes she just likes to point.

She still enjoys feeding everyone she sees imaginary cheerios.

She decided to start waving again. Now, if I can convince her to clap again, I'll be happy. She just decided that it was sooooo 4 months ago!

She reaches out for me and says, "mama." I melt every.single.time. And even when I know I shouldn't pick her up or take her from her daddy, I just can't help it.

She definitely understands more than we think. Today I directed her to find a book. She did and held it up. Then I told her to read it and she sat down and started turning pages. I was in shock. It's just so amazing to see her understand and interact more and more every day.

She is also testing her boundaries. Literally. She knows she isn't supposed to cross the threshold from the living room to the entryway. She sits right on the edge and just puts her hands across. And of course, when I'm not looking, she starts crawling that way. When I call her name, she just stops, sits down, and looks at me all innocently with those big eyes of hers as if to say, "what, mother?" I'm already onto her!

She is on antibiotics now because her congestion from a cold just wasn't getting better. She seems to be on the mend now. Her weight when we took her into the office was 19 pounds, 2 ounces.

We did a photo shoot today for her one year photos. I'll be posting some after she's officially one.

We had two play dates this week, plus a music class and story time at the library. Sprout's social calendar is getting pretty full! She's doing really well interacting with other babies and I'm glad we're doing these things so that she has those opportunities.

She eats like a horse. And people are constantly amazed that she loves vegetables. She chows down on broccoli like I do chocolate. I'm sure this will change at some point and she'll refuse to eat anything that isn't brown, but for now I'm enjoying the comments at restaurants about what a good eater she is.

Birthday preparations are in full swing. A week from today it will be over. Whoa.

Sprout's birthday is on Wednesday. I can't believe it. I really can't. You hear people talk about how quickly it goes by and I do remember those days when it seemed to drag on and I wondered if I'd ever survive. But it's hard to believe that this time last year my husband and I were enjoying our last weekend as just a couple. And now we're parents of a little girl who is about to turn a year old.

Weight Loss update

It's been slow going the last few weeks. Up and down with travel and my body adjusting to the new exercise routine. I'm finally moving in the right direction again. I lost 2.4 pounds this week, which officially put me over the 30 pound mark. Now, if I can keep going down despite all the birthday treats over the next couple of weeks, I'll be all set!

Adventures in Weaning

I mentioned in a previous post or two that we have begun the weaning process. I still have really mixed feelings about the whole thing and I also think that it's going to take a lot longer than I'd planned, for a few reasons.

I've always had kind of a borderline supply, so I'm nervous about dropping too many feedings before she hits her first birthday because I don't want to have to stop breastfeeding early. This is completely mind thing. I NEED to make it to one year.

I struggled so hard for so long to breastfeed in the beginning. I dealt with six months of awful painful blisters before I finally figured out something that worked to keep them at bay. Since around the 6 month mark, breastfeeding has been a largely positive experience. We've had a few hiccups with pulling and biting and distractability, but generally, it's been wonderful.

The closeness with my little girl is so special. We've finally gotten pretty good at the side-lying thing (just in the last couple of months. I'm not sure how anyone does it with a newborn) and when she lays there and wraps her whole arm around me while she nurses, I just melt.

But it's not all rosy, or I'd keep nursing her until middle school. She nurses 6 times a day. Her nursing sessions have finally shortened, but it's still difficult. I plan outings and shopping trips around where I'll be able to nurse her when it's time. And, I'm tired of wearing plastic cups over my nipples because if I don't I get friction blisters. I need to be able to spend a whole day away and not worry about pumping. And, it's time. I'm ready. Well, I'm ready most of the time.

So, two weeks ago, I dropped a feeding. Then we dropped another one last week. However, I've given in a couple times when she wanted to nurse or forgot when I got her up from a nap and nursed her. So, I am sabotaging my own attempts at weaning, but we're getting there.

Sprout is drinking whole milk from a straw sippy cup now. She won't drink out of a regular sippy cup. Maybe once she realizes what good stuff is in there, she'll make more of an effort. She's a big girl and she can handle it. I may try to drop another feeding or I may hold off a week. I don't want my supply to drop too soon.

In my dream world, I'll be able to hang on to her early morning feeding and her late night feeding for quite some time, while letting the others go. I'm not sure my body will cooperate with that, though. So, we'll just keep taking things one step at a time and see how it goes.