12 Months!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Paige!!

You are one year old!  I guess time flies when you are having fun, and boy has this past year been fun!  I am amazed at how much is learned in the first year of life.  I don't think you realize it until you start to experience it first hand.

Where do I even begin recapping this month and year?

You continue to be the happiest baby.  You don't meet a stranger, mainly because you will stare them down until you get them to break down and smile.  You are a ham for attention.  I think this goes with the stranger thing.  You love all of the teachers at school and they love you.  I am the parent who goes in and talks for awhile at pick up time.  Just last week I plopped down for a good 15 or so minutes and visited with your teacher and watched you interact with the other kids and teachers.  I think every teacher came by and said hi, and you greeted each one with a smile and wanted each one to hold you, and of course they did.  Ms. Melissa and I had good talk about all the things you loved and at the end we realized there isn't a thing you don't like.

You continue to be a great eater. 3 square meals a day with 2 to 3 snacks scattered here and there.  Breakfast is still your favorite meal of the day and I may have to say bananas are your favorite food.  I didn't realize a 1 year old could eat an entire banana in one sitting!

One of the biggest changes of the month is that you started going to sleep on your own in your crib.  Those reading may be thinking, "she is just now doing this?" and yes, she is.  You did great being rocked to sleep in the recliner in the den for so long we didn't want to break what wasn't broken.  Well, then this started to change.  Going to sleep in the rocker just wasn't working.  I just knew it was going to take you 2 hours to go to sleep on your own the first night.  I felt very prepared - I decided you would go to bed at 7:30 so you would be asleep by 9:30 and that seemed like you would still good a fairly decent night's sleep and I had figured out my "check-up" schedule for you, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.  My plan was totally not your plan.  I put you down and you cried.  I came back 5 minutes and you were still crying, but sometime over the next 10 minutes you fell asleep on your own.  Within 15 minutes you were asleep!  I thought this may be a fluke and that the next night I probably wouldn't be as lucky - wrong!!  You were sleep within 1 minute.  Now you don't make a peep when we put you down - amazing!  I think we did this a just the right time; you knew it was time for you to fall asleep in your crib on your own.

Walking - just this past Thursday night you took your first few steps on your own while we were at Matt and Jamie's house!!!  So awesome!!  You are by no means a full fledge walker but I don't think it will be too long!

You love to play!  Each afternoon we get home and you just play, play, play.  As I have mentioned before, there isn't really a particular toy you must play with, but you must play with all of them!  You love to flip through books and you like to help me read them to you.  Each afternoon when I pick you up from school I am greeted with a big smile and you kind of come say hi.  You get close enough to make sure I know you love me, but then you go back to playing.  When I pick you up to leave, you don't want to go!

Basic stats - you weigh 21 lbs, wear size 3 diaper, size 12 month clothes, and have 5 teeth.  I think you wear a size 3 shoe but since we don't really wear shoes I don't know.