12 Months

Eleanor is 12 months old!

I'm one week and one day late, but we've been so busy with her birthday. We owe a huge "Thank you!" to everyone who came to her party and made it such a fun day for all of us.

Here is what is going on with our beautiful girl these days...

Size: She is 21 lbs 8 oz and 30 inches tall, holding steady in the 75% percentile for both. She fits well into 12-18th month sized tops, but has really long legs and needs 18-24 month sized pants. She wears a size 4 shoe.

Mobility: She isn’t walking yet. I’m not sure when she will start. She doesn’t even seem to be particularly close, but that’s ok. She crawls really fast and cruises around on the furniture like a pro. I’m sure she’ll get there soon enough.

Language: I swear she picks up a new word every day. It’s incredible. So far she says mama, daddy, kitty, hi, baby, tickle, ball, hat, shoes, eye, utoh, puffs, wawa (water), wow, that, and can combine them into very simple phrases like “Hi daddy!” and “Mama, wawa?” She understands so much as well. She is great at following verbal instructions and knows the names of a lot of her toys. She is still using several signs, but talking has definitely taken over.

Personality: Eleanor was always a shy, serious baby, but lately she is starting to become so friendly! Often she will say “hi” to strangers and wave, especially if they say “hi” and wave first, where before if a stranger paid her any attention it would make her turn away and hide her face. She’s very affectionate and loves to give hugs and kisses. When we are playing on the floor she will crawl over to me, stand up, and give me the biggest hug with her arms around my neck. She also loved to hug her cousin Atlas when we were visiting him, but their interactions made me realize she is definitely on the sensitive side. If he was at all rough with her, or even just touched her too much or in a way she didn’t like she would immediately tear up and cry in a really dramatic fashion. She is trying to be more brave though. Lately if she gets hurt she will think about it for a second, pout, and give me this look as if she is trying really hard not to cry before she gives in to the tears.

Food: In the last few days it seems like she has really turned a corner with eating. Before she would have some days where she ate well and some where she just threw everything on the floor, but lately she has been consistently eating almost everything I give her. Right now some of her favorite foods are grapes, blueberries, macaroni and cheese, yogurt, cheese, and turkey. Her favorite snacks are veggie straws and puffs.

Horrid Things: She has always hated to get her diaper changed, but lately she has figured out that she can thwart my efforts by twisting around and trying to stand up on the changing table. Every change is now a mini wrestling match. I try keeping fun toys on the table, singing songs, distracting her by giving her tasks, but sometimes none of that works. It’s not that big of a deal if she’s just wet, but if it’s a poopy diaper….yeah. Let’s not even go there. She has also entered that phase of her life where she has a perpetual runny nose, between minor colds and teething. Yuck.

Great Things: There are so many of them. One that I am particularly thankful for is that she is really well behaved when we are out. She does great in her stroller, even for extended periods of time, and she is easy to take to restaurants. She sits nicely in her high hair and nibbles on food while checking out all of the new faces. Another is that she is starting to really show an interest in toys after not really caring about them for her entire life. She got so many fun new ones for her birthday. I love to sit with her at watch her learn how to interact with them, and it also helps my days go by a little easier when there is something other than me that can entertain her.

Favorite Things: She loves purses and wallets. My mom gave her an old wallet and some used gift cards which she loves to pull out. We got her a Fisher Price purse for her birthday that comes with lots of little accessories that she loves to take out and put back in. Another birthday gift which has been a huge hit is the Fisher Price shape sorting picnic basket. Both toys have handles so in addition to playing with them she enjoys simply putting them on her arm and carrying them around.