One Year Old

I don't know how the time has gotten away from me. I'm writing this, Lydia's one year post, three weeks late! So much has happened this month. Lydia had her first cold on July 18th, crawled on July 22nd, clapped on July 31st, and started transitioning to just one nap on August 8th. She's really growing up!

bedtime baby

always smiling

"dance like a monkey and laugh, laugh, laugh"

We haven't changed Lydia's feeding schedule at all, but we are giving her mostly finger foods now for lunch and dinner. She's tried catfish, chicken, mac & cheese, green beans, purple hull peas, and crackers. Maybe a few more foods. There isn't much she doesn't like. Her favorites are still cantaloupe and blueberries. For breakfast she still usually has baby food purees mixed with cereal. I'm continuing to feed her cereal because it is vitamin fortified, and I want to make sure she is getting a balanced diet. We also try to do 1/2 milliliter of poly-vi-sol vitamins in her afternoon bottle when we remember. At meal time we've mostly transitioned to a sippy cup instead of a bottle. She seems to drink out of either pretty well with little fuss.

On the sleeping front, we had a rough patch at the end of July, but at the beginning of August Lydia slept through the night (from 7/8 pm to 6/7 am) for a record 13 nights in a row! I'm so, so thankful to have a baby that sleeps well. Some nights she does wake up but she'll generally go back to sleep on her own or with help from mom or dad being held or rocked. On those nights where it is the middle of the night, I've been rocking for half an hour, and she still will not sleep, I do take her to the guest bed, and we sleep together. I get some rest which makes me a better mom, and she gets some snuggle time with mom. A win-win I think. We don't do it often, and she generally sleeps so well that I know I'm not spoiling her or creating bad sleep habits. I'm just spending time with my child, and I love it.

Most days Lydia does still take a late morning nap and a late afternoon nap, but every once in a while she takes an early afternoon nap, and that's it. I guess she's starting to transition to one nap a day. I'm not strict about napping at a specific time. I watch her sleepy cues and put her to sleep when she's beginning to act tired. This seems to work for us.

Lydia is still in 9 month pajamas but will be outgrowing most of them very soon. She's still in size 3 diapers.

My child loves toys! We have this little house that has 4 "rooms": 1) a front porch with a doorbell she can ring and a front door she can open, 2) a bedroom with a light switch to turn on and off, 3) a bathroom with a bathtub handle to turn and duck that quacks, and 4) a kitchen with a refrigerator door she can open. Lydia has a fun time just opening a closing the fridge and the front door, and sometimes pressing the doorbell or duck. She hasn't figured out the light switch yet.

playing with her house at Nana's

Right around her birthday I got really emotional, which I am sure most moms do. This year has been difficult. Little sleep. A ton of work. Very little time to myself. A huge change from my former self. But having a child has brought so much joy to our lives. We laugh so much more. We dance, sing songs, and make silly noises. It sounds boring, but its wonderful.

I feel so blessed to have a healthy, happy child. Happy birthday, my sweet baby! Mommy loves you dearly.

UPDATE: I forgot the most important part! Lydia weighted 14 lbs 10 oz at her weight check on August 15th. She's gained 12 lbs since her birthday.