Leia at 1 year old

At one year old, Leia Juliana can say 15 words and do 11 signs. Her favorite words are cat and baby :) She has 8 teeth and is a pro at walking. She loves to play outside and with water, musical toys and dancing, Grandma, books, and going to the park. She can identify her head, ears, tongue, nose, belly, feet and toes. She likes feeding herself food, but still breastfeeds throughout the day and a few times at night. James and I feel so lucky that she came into our lives!! It's been a joy to see her grow into the perfect combination of smart and goofy ♥ I love my little pumpkin! She's everything that I anticipated and so much more.

 

Size: 23 pounds, 5 ounces (89th percentile) and 2'6" tall (77th percentile). Leia wears size 18 month clothes and is heavy!

 

Favorite things: Animals, toys that play music, dancing, mornings, playing outside, playing in/with water, getting dirty, books, Grandma, pictures of herself and other babies. Favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, eggs, apples, avocado, grapes, goldfish crackers, bread and tomato.

 

Least favorite things: Sometimes vegetables. That's the food she's least interested in trying usually.

 

Cutest habits: Playing peekaboo by hiding around corners, giving kisses, baby yoga (downward dog). Doing the motions to songs like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and a "Rolling down the river" song that Grandma sings to her. When I sing "Pop goes the weasel" she says "Pop!"

 

Milestones: Leia started pointing this month. She's not as shy anymore, and actually often shows off for guests who come to our house.

 

First: Fairytale Town visit, and first birthday!

 

Language: Holy smartypants!! It's a good thing I'm stopping keeping track of all the words Leia knows after this 12 month blog, because it's a really long list! This month she learned to say: Hi, park, bear, pop, baby, and possibly out and where. She calls Daddy "gaga" because she can't pronounce the "D" sound very well. And Leia also learned the signs for: Sleepy, water, hat, thank you, chicken, sad, bunny, bath, hurt, pig, eat, duck, and possibly toothbrush. She amazes me, seriously!

 

Talents: Entertaining herself in the morning while Mommy gets ready. Riding in the car happily. Dancing. Speaking, signing, and understanding language.

Leia at 11 months

This girl is a toddler!! I feel like she's grown, learned and changed more in the past 2 months than in her first 9 months combined. She went from this little baby who just sat there, to now being a walking, talking child. We love her so much!!

 

 

Size: Wearing 18 month clothes and I'd estimate 25ish pounds.

 

Favorite things: Jack the cat, saying "cat," water play, getting dirty, walking, watching people outside from the window, peekaboo, books, being outside.

 

Least favorite things: Flies - she cries when they land on her.

 

Cutest habits: I've taught Leia to identify body parts. She usually knows her feet, belly, tongue and nose (for nose she sniffs loudly, hehe). She likes to sit on the ground and spin in a circle, and she'll do it when I say "spin around!" She's great at spotting dogs and cats everywhere - in person, in a book or on a mural. She says "cat!" and does the sign for "dog" when she sees either. Leia is giving a lot of kisses lately!

 

Milestones: Leia started walking at 10.5 months! She also learned how to stand up without holding on to anything. She knows how to turn the TV on and off. She just started putting things in/on (such as putting a toy IN a cup) rather than only dumping them out. She hands things to us a lot, like food to share or a book she wants us to read.

 

Firsts: This month was our first family vacation to Bodega Bay, CA. Such fun (other than Daddy being sick most of the time)! With that came her first time at the beach and first time sleeping away from home... other than the hospital when she was 3 days old. First 4th of July too, though we didn't celebrate because Leia goes to bed before the sun goes down.

 

Language: New words this month: Bird, duck, quack, boo, book, and probably more that I forgot. She signs often, and this month's new sign is dog.

 

Talents: Walking, talking, baby signs, and understanding language (I'm already surprised at times that she's listening to the adults talk... like I tell people she can say bird and right away she chimes in "bird!" Or I tell someone we're still breastfeeding and she does the sign for "nurse."

Leia at 10 months

Size: We outgrew Mommy and Me group so I don't weigh her regularly anymore. But she's wearing clothes in sizes 12 months and 18 months!

 

Favorite things: Mommy and Daddy holding her and dancing. All meat and cheese. Standing, books, her yellow ball, baths, swimming, necklaces. The cat. Playing in the kitchen. Sitting on the tile and turning in a circle.

 

Least favorite things: Hats, strangers, scary noises, having her nose wiped.

 

Milestones: Leia learned to wave, and she can pull herself to stand on just about anything. She also cruises along furniture quite well. Tooth #7 came in this month.

 

Cutest habits: She will start waving when I say "hi" or "bye bye," and clapping when I say "yay!" But she also claps and waves and random times throughout the day.

We love when she lays her head on our chest, often when strangers talk to her and she needs to check into her safe place.

Leia will sometimes laugh just because we're laughing. She'll kiss us on demand, but the best feeling ever is when she does it unprompted!! Often in the mornings crawling after the cat makes her laugh. Oh and the other day she grabbed my hands and "taught" me how to clap.

 

Firsts: Leia has started to open drawers, cabinets and closets. She also started her first swim class. She took her first step on her 10 month birthday!

 

Talents: Getting wherever she wants to be. Finding things to pull down... phone chargers are a  favorite. Clapping, waving and standing.

 

Language: Her first word might have been "mama." It's really hard to tell if it's babbling or if she knows what she's saying... but it seems like sometimes she says mama as she crawls to me. Also, the following words she has said once, and I can't for sure say that she knew what she was saying, but it was in the right context after a grown up said it repeatedly: Ball, cat, bye bye, hat.

 

Leia often signs "more," and I think a few times she's signed "all done," and "milk." She understands lots of our words that we say to her. I was surprised the other day when I started singing "If you're happy and you know it," and she started clapping!

 

She also has her own word for cat, she says "gah!" whenever she sees Jack. It's so consistent that if I'm looking away and I hear her say it, I can be pretty sure he's just entered the room. She even says GAH at pictures of cats in books!

Leia at 9 months

Our girl has so much personality! I love to watch her grow as she gets more and more interactive.

 

Size: 20 pounds, 8 ounces (85th percentile) and 2'4" (57th percentile). She wears size 9-12 month clothes.

 

Favorite things: Holding 2 things and banging them together. Books. Kisses. Cheese. Watching the cat. Playing with the mail. Being outside.

 

Least favorite things: Having her runny nose wiped (she got the sniffles from teething). Being held by strangers (but she's gotten a lot better about it).

 

Milestones: We can put her down for naps! Hallelujah!! Now we need to work on lengthening, they last 40 minutes max.
 

 

She crawled for the first time a few days ago! Since around 8 months she could scoot, lunge and turn around seated, and move some distance without technically crawling.

 

Teeth #4, #5 and #6 came in. #7 is coming soon, I can see it under the surface.

 

Leia has figured out how to roll from her back to her tummy (I think she could have a long time ago but just doesn't like being on her tummy). She can also push herself into a seated position from her belly, so when she falls on her back she's no longer stuck there.

 

Cutest habits: She puts everything on top of her head - toys, books, clothes. Leia will imitate me if I clap or pat my legs. She kisses me on demand if I make a kissy sound, and once in a while she kisses me on the cheek unprompted - best feeling ever! She'll also kiss her doll if I hold it up to her and do the kissy sound. Leia moves her legs when she's having fun - it's pretty cute when she's just sitting there wiggling. She likes when I bounce her in my arms and make her dance... if I stop and she wants to keep going she kind of bounces herself to be like "keep it up mom!" She also "dances" by herself by kind of bouncing when sitting up. Leia is one to make her own rules when it comes to eating...

 

 

Firsts: Daddy and Leia went out together for the first time, other than walks around the block. He took her to visit his coworkers a few different times. First time sitting herself up. The other night she was supposed to be sleeping in bed, and when Daddy checked on her she was sitting up. We ordered a video monitor that night! (None of us are ready for her to sleep in the crib, she wakes up too much at night.)

 

Talents: Clapping - she does it ALL the time. Climbing over Mommy. Riding in the car happily. She signs "more" often. Pulling herself to stand up.

 

Food: I might stop listing the foods she tries because it's so much - basically anything that's not too hard, chewy or unhealthy. This month she tried pancakes, broccoli and beef (the Chinese dish with sauce), white rice, squash casserole, feta and sheep cheeses, butternut squash with garlic, radish, shredded pork, tofu, tamale casserole (ground beef/salsa/cornbread), roasted red pepper and chicken. Her favorite foods are cheese and avocado.

Leia at 8 months

We're on somewhat of a schedule these days, with Leia waking around 6:30, and napping for 30-40 minutes at 9:30, 12:30 and 4:30. Give or take an hour - our days are flexible so I just follow her cues. Bedtime is 7, or earlier if she skips the last nap.

 

Size: 19 pounds even, and wearing clothing size 6-9 months.

 

Favorite things: Her jumperoo and high chair, being kissed, going outside, drumming on things with her hands to make noise (cardboard boxes, the high chair tray and a pool noodle are faves), being worn in a carrier.

 

Least favorite things: Sleeping, teething, being away from Mommy and Daddy. We have some separation anxiety going on.

 

Milestones: Leia now claps and gives kisses! Her third tooth came in this month. She now gets baths in the big tub and has started to enjoy playing during bath time. She can pull up onto her knees when holding onto something, and can sometimes get up on her feet for a few seconds. She can also stand with us holding onto just her hands (previously she needed armpit support). Leia really wants to crawl - it's coming soon!

 

We changed up the bedtime routine to give Mommy a break, and I'm so much happier! Daddy puts her down alone (rather than me nursing her to sleep and her waking most times I tried to slip away). Learning to fall asleep without the boob gives me 2-4 hours of time off in the evenings before she wakes again. Love it! There were some tears involved :( But at least Daddy was/is always there with her.

 

Cutest habits: Clapping. Kissing (of course I can't be sure of her intentions...). Experimenting with her voice and squealing. Holding something in front of her face and taking it down repeatedly - getting us to say "peekaboo!" And often she just likes to lift things up high.

We love to watch her feed herself - she's concentrating and exploring, and it's just so much fun. When she's having fun playing, she does this half-laugh thing, which is basically breathing hard/loud while making a funny face. Ha ha.

 

Firsts: First trip to the zoo, St. Patrick's Day:

Easter:

 

She met her great grandma Jean this month.

We also started Baby Signs class. She signed "more" for the first time right at 8 months (I've been working on a few signs since 6 months).

 

Talents: Playing independently, riding in the car happily, standing, pulling up.

Food: We started the month doing purees, so we introduced pureed carrots and cinnamon in apples. But Leia really started to want to feed herself, so we've been doing a lot of baby-led weaning (which just means that we let her feed herself). It's messy, but fun! She's had: Quinoa, scrambled egg yolk, shredded cheese, cooked carrots, green beans and peas, sweet potato, avocado, mashed potato, blueberries and mango.

Leia at 7 months

Size: 17 pounds, 5 ounces. She's wearing some 3-6 month clothes, and some 6-9 months.

 

Favorite things: Going in the yard with Daddy. When laying on a bed or changing table, picking up her legs high and slamming them down. Sitting in her high chair. Tags on anything - blankets, pillows, toys. Also, buckles and straps (like on the diaper bag and Ergo). A windchime we have hanging in the guest room... whenever we go in that room her eyes immediately go right to it. Mornings. Kisses. Songs. Peekaboo. Daddy's karaoke.

 

Least favorite things: Sleeping. The vacuum. Anyone who's not Mommy or Daddy holding her. Sitting in grass freaked her out. Leia's not tolerating the stroller as much lately, she much prefers being worn in a carrier.

 

Milestones: She's mastered sitting up. I thought it would make my life easier, and it has! Now that she can sit independently, she's more happy to play alone for a bit while I get stuff done. She also likes to sit in her high chair in the kitchen and watch me.

We moved her from the infant car seat  carrier to a convertible car seat. Once she could sit up, she started to scream every time we drove, I think because she didn't want to be in that reclined position. I've lost the convenience of carrying her in the car seat (especially when sleeping), but it's worth it for a happier baby.

Leia finally doubled her birth weight! I'm surprised at how well she can pick up teeny tiny items with her pincer grasp. She will lunge forward while sitting to grab objects too.

 

Cutest habits: Smiling when I kiss her, and when she catches a glimpse in the mirror, or often just at the sheer joy of being picked up.

I forgot to mention last month that Leia figured out how to use a sippy cup and was very proud of herself. She'd take a drink, laugh, and all the water would fall out onto her shirt. Drink, laugh, repeat!

She also will play peekaboo herself - holding up a blanket over her face and taking it down. I don't know if it's on purpose, but she smiles when we say "peekaboo!" when she takes it down.

 

Firsts: Valentines Day. First hour-plus car trip - she went with Mommy to Salida to visit the T family and meet 2-month-old Owen. I started putting her in the cart like a big kid when we go shopping - so cute and she loves it. First time swinging at the park, and going down a slide (on Daddy's lap).

 

Talents: Sitting up. Eating solid foods. Putting her feet in her mouth.

 

Food: Leia has tried homemade pureed banana, avocado, yams, sweet potato, pear, mango, apple and peas, as well as rice cereal, puffs and rice rusks. We've also let her experiment with the non-pureed forms of apples, pears, bell pepper and bread. It took her a few weeks to get used to the idea of eating, but she eventually got the hang of it. She tolerates everything, but I think pears and mangos are her favorite.

Leia at 6 months

Happy half birthday to our sweet, cuddly, curious, shy, funny daughter! We love her so!

Size: 14 pounds, 10 ounces (25th percentile) and 2 feet, 2 inches long (51st percentile). She's wearing size 3-6 month clothes but is too long for some of the pajamas now.

 

Favorite things: Mommy saying "Choo choo," fake sneezing and "boo!" Watching the cat. Her jumperoo. Touching our faces. Playing with things that aren't toys, like a plastic hanger and a water bottle filled with rice. A few months ago I mentioned that the water bottle was too loud and scared her - a lot of things that were scary before are now fun. Like aggressive games of peek-a-boo ;) Leia loves when I sing to her, especially songs that have movement like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." And when I dance like a fool. Clapping is pretty entertaining, I can see her thinking "how are you making that sound with those?"

 

Least favorite things: Having her runny nose wiped and suctioned with the snot sucker. She still won't sleep very long without touching me.

 

Milestones: She started grabbing her feet just after 5 months, and now she can put them in her mouth. Leia is reaching for everything. She wants her hands (and mouth) on every item humanly possible.

She's now eating pretty consistently every 2 hours during the day. Leia used to always prefer nursing to sleep, but now she often doesn't want to for naps. I still can't put her down to sleep, but she sometimes likes for Mommy to wear her in a carrier, pat her back and say "shhh" until she falls asleep.

She can pass objects from hand to hand, has developed her pincher grasp, and can clasp her hands together. When she drops an object while laying down, she can find it and pick it back up again. She can sit for a few seconds, but not consistently yet. She reaches out for Mommy when she wants me to hold her.

 

Cutest habits: Playing with her little feet. Not just looking in the mirror, but putting her hands all over it and discovering how she can hold hands with the other baby. Laughing for no apparent reason. I love when I'm holding her and she looks up at me. It feels like she's saying "This is my favorite place to be, Mama!" She's also started feeling my face/putting her hand in my mouth when she nurses. That started as cute, but is getting less cute because she scratches me without realizing it. She gets excited when Daddy gets home and seems happy to see him.

Helping Mom with the laundry!

Firsts: First tooth came in at 5 and a half months! First time going to Baby Story Time at the library (we started to go every Thursday - wish I had earlier). First cold :( That was NO fun. First tastes of real food - Daddy lets her chew/suck on apples (she likes) and pears (not so much), and we began offering mashed banana (not a fan) last week. Today we tried avocado - she didn't like that either.

See her first tooth?

Talents: Falling asleep when we go for walks, manipulating objects with her hands, being good out in public, tummy time, playing independently first thing in the morning while Mommy gets ready (the rest of the day... not as much).

Leia at 5 months

5 months! Look at this big kid! I really feel like I'm going to blink and she'll be in kindergarten.

These shots are also worth sharing because she's just so darn cute:

 

Size: 13 lbs., 13 oz. Size 3-6 month clothing.

 

Favorite things: Putting everything in her mouth, peekaboo/baby yoga/talking with mommy, going for walks, a singing nursery rhyme book that was a Christmas gift from Lola. She likes when I tap on the window - and actually she's very interested in most new sounds.

 

I can make her laugh by doing really stupid dances for her, and she laughed at Aunt Rose when she did horrible karaoke. She's also a little ticklish in her armpits.

 

Leia loves drinking water too. She won't drink it out of a bottle or sippy cup, but I give her sips from my cup and she really likes it. I think feeding her solids is going to be a lot of fun! We're waiting until 6 months for that though.

New Years Eve

Least favorite things: Practicing sitting - she much prefers to be standing. Leia is very much attached to mommy right now and has separation anxiety. She does not like strangers! She's also really sensitive to smells and will cry if the kitchen gets a little smokey when I'm cooking, and she wasn't a fan of the weird smells at Home Depot. Sleeping without touching Mommy.

Christmas Eve

Milestones: She's really mastering control of her hands and reaching for objects a lot. I think she knows her name. She learned to roll the day before her 5 month birthday. I put her on her stomach for tummy time, turned away, and when I looked back she was on her back! She'll turn toward noises (She might have at 4 months, I can't remember. Oops). It seems like overnight her hair got much thicker.

Cutest habits: Laughing, talking/babbling, squealing. Smiling. I love when she's playing with a toy and smiles at us like "Isn't this SO much fun?!"

Firsts: First charitable donation: We participated in a breastmilk donation drive. And first time volunteering: We participated in "Baby Night" at Daddy's PTA school. The students observed her development and reflexes, though it didn't go too well due to that stranger anxiety! First Christmas and New Years Eve. First sips of water.

PTA school baby night

Talents: Being good in public, tummy time, standing up, getting drool on everything.