The Brooks Board: 12 Months

Dear Ellie Belle -

I'm about 2 weeks late on this post, but I wanted to make sure I got it in! This is your last monthly post! Last one?! How did that happen so fast?? This year has been so unbelievable. You are sassy and smart and we love you more than you could ever possibly know. Here's what's new in you life this month...

Weight: 20 lbs. 11 oz. (62nd percentile)

Height: 29.5" (60th percentile)

Head Circumference: 45 cm (52nd percentile)

-You checked our perfectly at your one year well child checkup. You got four shots and took them like a champ!

-You really walked for the first time on August 3 at 11 months and 3 days. You were so excited and proud of yourself and we were too!! Now you're zipping around everywhere! I'd almost say you're running, but if you get going too fast you trip over your own feet! You are a busy bee!

-You dropped all of your daytime bottles this month and are strictly on sippy cups during the day. We're finishing up the last of the formula we have and then you will be drinking milk exclusively. You started getting one sippy cup of regular milk a day about halfway through the month and have never had any issues with it. Now the only bottle of formula you have is bedtime, but I think we've just got enough for one more serving and then that one will be milk too!

-You're eating pretty much everything now (except for nuts, choking hazards, etc.). You are a great eater...when you are in the mood! If you're even remotely not that hungry you pitch a fit until we take you out of your highchair! When you are hungry, you eat like a lumberjack! You're pretty particular about what you want. If we've got three items on your tray and you only want one of them, you'll pick up what you don't want a promptly drop it on the floor. Buddy has obviously come to love your dinner time and we've had to start barricading him with the baby gate!

-You are still sleeping great. You take marathon 2-3 hour naps at home and typically sleep overnight from about 7:30-7. Thanks for that, by the way!

-You're wearing mostly 12 month clothes now with some room to grow, and some 9 months and some 6-12 months still fit. You're still in a size 3 shoe and have plenty of room before you're ready for a size 4! You're wearing size 4 diapers.

-You have eight teeth, four on top and four on bottom, and one more on the way.

-You rocked pigtails for the first time this month, and boy were you ever cute! Holy moly, we could just eat you up!

-The week before your birthday, you went with Paw Paw and Nonni to spend a couple of nights in Raleigh at Aunt Rachel's house. I, of course, was a nervous wreck about sending you three hours away but you did awesome and had a super fun time!

-You got your walking papers from the Kangaroos infant classroom at school and moved into the Kittens room after Labor Day. You were SO ready to move. You were pretty under stimulated in the infant room and everyone was so much younger than you! It was, however, harder for me than I thought it would be! I guess it was just one more sign that you aren't a baby anymore!

-You are pointing at absolutely everything! We are constantly naming what you're pointing at...door, chair, light, lamp, cup, bowl, etc. You have also been pointing to pictures and pretty consistently pointing out Mama and Dada in photos. Could definitely be a fluke...but we of course think you're a genius. :-)

-You are also a champion kiss blower! One day I'm going to catch it on camera, because it is just the cutest!

-You are also getting really good at bringing things to people/Buddy when asked. We can say, "Bring Buddy the ball," and 8 times out of 10, you'll do it!

-You love music and things that make noise. You got a xylophone for your birthday and think it's just the most fun thing you've ever seen. You found a big xylophone at Discovery Place Kids and knew right away what to do with it!

-You've been doing a lot more snuggling lately which makes me so happy! For a while, you were just too busy to cuddle, but I think it's making it's way back on to your priority list! You love, love snuggling with your bunnies too! You'll walk up to Mommy and Daddy, arms wide open, and give hugs. You have also started liking to sit in our laps and read books or play with toys.

-You love animals and animal noises. You'll bring over you farm animal See and Say and will sit in our lap until we've gone through every animal! You are making what sounds like "quack quack" noises when we say "What's a duck say?"

-You've almost mustered up enough patience to sit through an entire book. We can usually make it all the way through "Good Night Moon" and usually make it through other books with just a page or two left before you're off to the races!

-You are obsessed with bubbles and balloons. You have so much fun playing with bubbles and point out balloons everytime you see them! I got you a balloon from Harris Teeter the day before your birthday, and you carried it around with you for 4 or 5 days before we finally had to toss it!

-You would much prefer to drink out of our cups than your own, especially if it's a water bottle! You also think than any cup, whether it's a bath toy or empty shampoo bottle, is for drinking out of! We have to keep our eyes peeled when you're in the bath tub or you'd drink it empty!

-For your actual birthday, we took you to Discovery Place Kids and you had a great time. You'll really get the full enjoyment of it in a year or two, but you kept yourself busy and were wide open for a solid two hours!

-You also wore your first ECU cheerleading outfit and I almost passed out from the cuteness overload.

-You were invited to your friend Colson's 2nd birthday party, and had such a fun time! It was choo choo themed so we rode a train, and there were bubbles, so you were in heaven!

- You are still loving being outside. You are a huge fan of your pink Cozy Coupe and the wagon you got for your birthday. You'd much prefer to ride in either of those now instead of your stroller and point at them every time we're in the garage.