Noelle at One Year

Noellie, at one year:

You are 32-inches long, weigh 28 pounds, wear size 5 diaper and 24 months to 2T clothing. (You can still squeeze into some 18 month dresses, too.)

You have said at least one or two times the following words: nih-nih (night-night), ba bah (bye bye), uhlo (hello, while holding some toy to your ear), da-doo (thank you), ba (ball), dee-dee or ba-bee (when cuddling or pointing to your baby) and possible I-love-you in some sort of similar-sounding gibberish.

You say more frequently: Ma-ma, Da-da, Ah-nah,  mah (more), deeeee!! (pictures??).

You cruise along furniture and have stood on your own for just a few seconds. You will hesitantly walk along when someone helps you, but you don’t like it.

You pull up on almost anything! You are also a climber & will try to get a leg-up on most anything… the trunk in our room, the couch, the kitchen cabinets, the chair in your room, the bath-tub. While you’re not quite tall enough to successfully climb everything, you let us know your intention!

You also have figured out that door knobs open doors, and you try your best to open doors (you can reach them, eek!). You have also managed to open our sliding glass door, too! (Eek! again). You love opening cabinets as well. We won’t talk about your fascination with the potty.

Your favorite foods: steamed broccoli, Ritz crackers, baked chicken, green beans or most beans. You aren’t a fruit lover, but you are growing to eat them more readily. You also like smoothies with spinach, almond milk, bananas, and cinnamon.

You love to take your time eating! We start you a good ten minutes before everyone else, and yet you still finish about ten minutes after everyone else. : )

You LOVE framed pictures, and wherever we are, if you notice them on the wall, you exclaim “Deeeeee!” while pointing wildly (sometimes with both hands) at what you want to go look at.

You also have begun pointing at foods you want during dinner, giving me the hint with what you want to have next.

You have displayed a bit of a fiesty temper — you let us know when you’re not pleased! (We say you have your strong opinions.) : )

You are interested in bows, barretts, and headbands — you will try to put them in your hair yourself. You try to brush your hair with your comb after bathtime. You also LOVE bathtime and will stomp your feet excitedly and try to climb in when it’s bathtime.

You will wiggle your fingers against your neck & say “Tck tck tck” for “tickle, tickle, tickle” — a game we play.

When you hear the door to the garage open, you excitedly say “Da-da.”

One of your favorite things to do is “wallow” — on our couch or the bed, with all of us, you love to giggle and roll, sit up, fall back, roll around on your back, laughing the whole time — really, the picture of wallowing. : )

You and Anna have become sweet little playmates! You love to play with her & often imitate her — you laugh when she laughs, you roar when she roars, you crawl after her, and want to play with everything she does. If you can hear her in another part of the house, and you can’t get to her, you begin crying.

You have begun to love to look through books by yourself. You will become engrossed in books, turning pages, studying the pictures, pointing at them. You also love to be read to, but a little impatient if we take too long to read the pages. You love the books Pat the Bunny and Tickle the Pig.

You’ve become a great napper & currently take two naps — one usually between 8:30-10:30 AM and one between 12:30-2:30.

You give sweet little hugs and kisses!

One of my favorite things you do: you love to be held, cuddled, touched, snuggled, rubbed. You will often crawl & fetch a toy, then drag it back to me (no matter how big) and climb back in my lap to play with it. When you’re interested in another toy, you’ll leave, go get it, then come back and sit in my lap to play with that one. Oh how I love this!

You, as you always have seemed, don’t enjoy being the center of attention–you get nervous. You don’t like all eyes on you — BUT, at the same time, you seem to genuinely enjoy being “one of the crowd” and included. You love to watch Anna’s silly antics and laugh with us at her entertaining dances, jokes, or play.

You are goofy, silly, & laughs easily with our family. When you figure out a toy or do something you know is cute, you immediately turn around to make sure we’re watching you.

When you know you’re not supposed to touch something, even as you crawl to it or reach for it, you shake your head “no.”

You have recently grown fond of shoes, and you will give a hearty go at putting any shoes — your own, Anna’s flip-flops, or even mine! — on your feet. For not wearing a whole lot of shoes yet, you already love ‘em.

Your favorite toy is actually a soft doll of Anna’s — we consider her yours, now, because you’ve slept with her since you were six months old. If I have to wake you up from your nap, everytime I go in you are always cuddling her or laying on top of her.

Our naptime/bedtime routine is one of my favorite moments throughout the day: after saying night-night’s, we go into your dark room, I give you your baby, and you automatically lay your head on her on my chest. I sing “Jesus Loves Me” & sway with you — and a few times, before I’ve begun singing, you have said “Jussss” — and as soon as the song ends, you’re leaning back towards your crib.

I love you, Noellie! You are such a blessing and a perfect fit for our family! What  a joy & gift you are to us!

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