We Are Fami-Lee: A Girl and Her Elephant--12 Months

Wow. Just wow. My baby is one year old. I cannot believe it. I spent the days prior to her birthday this year reminiscing on the days prior to her birth last year. Reminiscing might not be the best choice of word. More like thanking my lucky stars I wasn't doing that again! This year has had its ups and downs, that's for sure. I have had to learn how to be a stay-at-home mom and it's not as easy as I thought it would be. I miss working, but somehow I wouldn't change it. Samantha has brought such joy into this house, it's crazy! We love her to pieces!

Typical running off photo.

And here's a collage of this girl and her elephant 12 months in the making. My grandpa told my mom that he hasn't been able to see the difference from one month to another. Although it might be hard when looking at two successive months, if you look at the last year, there are significant changes!

This baby girl isn't so much of a baby anymore. She walk (and runs) like crazy now, hardly ever falling.

She talks like crazy too, although she has her favorite words. Pointing at me (or Derek) while saying "mama," whispering puh-puh (puppy. She met Doug and Heather's puppy Aspen over the holidays and loved her until she knocked her down. Then she wasn't so sure.), or buh-buh (baby and bye-bye), and attempting to say "noodle" (it's more of the n sound followed by a "luh." Hard to explain but incredibly cute to hear!)

She loves pulling things out of their place and either throwing them aside, gently placing them on the ground, or giving them to people one item at a time. On our trip back from Utah, she spent about 20 minutes taking every piece of reading material from the seat and methodically placing it on the ground one at a time, then putting them back on the seat one at a time, over and over again. I was just glad she had an activity that kept her happy for 20 minutes on the plane ride.

She also likes playing "fetch." She'll hand me a toy, I'll throw it and then she'll run to go fetch it. My own little puppy!

She LOVES playing with daddy. Her favorite games right now are squealing with delight when Derek tries to get her to say dada while pointing to himself and she immediately says "mama," running after him around corners where he jumps out to "scare" her, and chasing after him when he's on all fours. I'd consider her equally a mama and a daddy's girl.

She's been loving dolls. Any thing resembling a doll (stuffed animal, Elmo) will do. She picks it up, holds it lovingly while rocking back and forth, or she pats it on the head softly while saying buh-buh.

She still loves dancing. Aside from swaying back and forth, or up and down on her knees with her hands up in the air, she's begun a "happy feet" dance. Pretty much exactly what you would expect: Running in place as fast as her little feet will move.

Have I mentioned that she sings too? It's usually at church during hymns, but she'll sing right along with everyone else. Pretty cute.

She understands so much. I can't get over it. She's starting to respond to simple instructions and it amazes me that she understands them. She'll bring me a toy, her soother, etc. One funny thing to remember: I changed her poopy diaper downstairs the other day and I'll usually take her upstairs to her bedroom where we keep her diaper genie so it doesn't stink up the whole house. I forgot this time and was doing other things when I noticed her pick up her diaper and head upstairs. I followed her all the way to her bedroom where she stopped at the diaper genie. I was amazed that she knew where to go and where to take it. I probably shouldn't have been since she's seen it happen so many times, but it was still amazing.

I think she might be calming down a bit too (did I speak too soon? We'll see). I'll catch her laying down on her elephant every once in a while. Just laying there. Doing nothing. Except laying there. This girl never does that. Ever.

She loves reading books. She'll yell and yell while holding a book out to you until you pull her onto your lap and read the book to her. She doesn't stay for the whole book, but I still find it cute that she wants to read even a little bit!

She's starting to get good at pushing buttons (literal ones, not mine, although that can be true too), turning on her toys, flipping pages in books, etc.

Have I mentioned how much this girl eats? Here's a sample day:

Breakfast: 1)cereal bar 2)whole bowl filled with cut up peaches and yogurt 3)nursing when she first wakes up
Lunch: 1)One of those toddler meals with a pasta and vegetable 2) piece of bread or some sort of cracker (mum mum's or goldfish) 3) nursing before naptime
Dinner: 1) pasta (still trying to get her to eat more meat), peas, carrots 2) banana or other fruit if she's still hungry 3) nursing before bedtime

Is that a lot for a 1 year old? Maybe not, but for how little this girl stays, I am constantly amazed at how much she can fit in that little stomach of hers.

That should be all. She changes so much, I can't believe it. I wish I was somehow better at writing down the specifics daily (for me, not to bore you) so I would remember when and where she learned to do things. It's crazy how easy it is to forget.

Hopefully the next year is just as good as this last. I plan on continuing the Girl and Her Elephant installments until she turns two, mainly because since she is so little, I'd like to see more growth! Hope no one minds!