Making Mama's Kitchen: Peanut Post: 1 Year Old!

Well, it happened. Somehow we let our baby Peanut turn into a toddler. *sigh* A whole year old and you've already decided to be crazy independent. Oh, Peanut, I think the coming years will be a treat. All I know is that your Daddy & I are head over heals in love with you after this first year together. Your ornery little grin... your squeal when Daddy chases us... your giant smile when we come in to get you in the morning... your proud clapping when we say "good girl!"... your scowl when you don't approve... your silly little bulldog face when you're feeling indignant. Baby girl, if nothing else, I hope you know how much we love you.

Your birthday was a crazy time for us this year, but I think we made the most of it. I didn't get this written until a couple weeks afterwards, but here are your one year old stats:

The Machine Shed in Davenport, IA

on your birthday

-weight: 22 lbs. 8 oz.

-height: 29.5" (wearing 12 mos and some 18 mos clothing)

-teeth: 2 top front teeth are coming in! (for a total of 4)
-shoe size: 4W (no longer extra wide! We got you new walking shoes just before your birthday)

-sleeping: Before you got sick, you were pretty much on the same schedule as last month: 9:30pm - 10am, nap 11:30-1:30pm, and nap 4:30-6pm. You did finally cut out the evening catnap. However, since getting sick (your first ever ear infection - not fun!), your schedule is a nightmare. After several days of antibiotics, you are sleeping through the night (like 10pm-6 to 8am), but fighting us like crazy when we try to lay you down. You went from never sleeping in our arms to only wanting to sleep with us. Looks like sleep training round 2 is in our future!

sweet baby

-eating: You had your last bottle the night before your birthday (and didn't even finish it). Since then, you easily transitioned to 3 meals a day, a couple snacks, and a sippy cup. You will drink water, juice, milk, or formula from your cup with meals now.

-favorite foods: Thanks to all your birthday celebrations, you've discovered cake (or more accurately, icing). Cheese is still a favorite, as well as mandarin oranges, ravioli, brocolli (you ate a whole plateful at Bennigan's on Valentine's Day!), ground beef dishes (especially meatballs), and smoothies in your food pouches (especially sweet potato, spinach, pea, and applesauce).

-favorite toys: Magnets on the fridge, your new tea set from Gma/Gpa Eddie, your instrument set from Aunt Linz, the farm animal set my parents bought you on your bday, your baby doll (so sweet with her!), rubber coasters (always a fav), DVD cases, remotes, and pretty much anything else you're not supposed to get into. You love any books with animals in them and like to make all the animal sounds as we read. Daddy got you a texture book, too.

-favorite songs: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald, Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee (Grandma Cindy taught you to smash it), I'm a Little Teapot, One Two Buckle My Shoe (no idea what that little rhyme is actually called but you love it), and pretty much anything Daddy makes up.

-accomplishments: At about 11.5 months, you took off! For a couple weeks, you would walk anywhere as long as you only had to take a couple steps without holding onto a wall or furniture. Shortly after, you decided you didn't need the wall. It still amazes Daddy and me that you can get anywhere and FAST! You even figured out how to climb the stairs and crawl the right way (just like Mama, this came after walking).

-potty: A couple weeks before your birthday, Mama ordered your first potty chair. Now, a lot of people will think Mama's crazy for this, but Daddy supports it and you think it's great! We decided to make potty "training" a part of your routine starting now so that as you get older, it's a slower transition out of diapers. Already, you are going on the potty several times a day, including #2's! You go on the potty at least as often as in your diaper and we couldn't be prouder. We especially love to watch you clap for yourself when you're done.

yay!

-words: You say mama, dada, baby, bu-bu (bubble), and crazy (thanks, Aunt Lindsey) consistently, but you're also starting to repeat things we say. You sign more, food, milk (use this for any drink), all done, and baby and are actually starting to use them on your own, not just mimicing us. You especially like to do animal sounds right now (snake, bulldog, puppy, monkey, and lizzard) and wave at everyone we see.

best bulldog face ever

-birthday celebrations: We celebrated your birthday several times this year. Daddy & I weren't crazy about the thought of having a huge birthday party for your first birthday, so we decided to have a few more intimate ones. We went up to Huntington to celebrate with Daddy's family, the Niedermeyers came to our house, we had a little party in Nebraska with Mama's extended family (and finally got all 4 of the 2012 Banghart babies together!), and finally with Mama's siblings and parents in Mt. Zion. Needless to say, you were well-celebrated! Unfortunately, we spent your actual birthday driving home from Nebraska, but we tried to make the most of that, too.