Slugger 1 Year Birthday!!!

Slugger:

Real Age: 1 year old

Adj. Aige: almost 9 months old

Weight: ~18.2 pounds

Height: ~28 inches

Milestones:

-can transfer object from one hand to other hand

-LOVES to stare in a mirror. So thankfully we don't have many full-length mirrors because she would be glued to it for hours

-can crawl and move to sitting easily

-pulls up to standing and "couch walks"

-can pull herself up on crib rail

-loves climbing stairs (but still tries to go down them headfirst)

-responds to her name

-will "fake laugh" if she's in a room with other people laughing and she feels left out

-pushes things away (like bottles and spoons) if she doesn't want them

-her first tooth has appeared-bottom front and center

-stranger anxiety has begun, only wants mommy and daddy...mainly mommy

-teething=crying and whining

Welcome to the teething era!!! Man, she has become a completely different child out of nowhere. I'm not going to lie, it's tough. Our usual mellow, sweet child is now grouchy and whining at the drop of the hat. It's so hard to know when she's in discomfort and not being able to take it completely away. We've tried all sorts of tricks but her favorite teether is my old license and credit card that she found. Now they're permanently in her toy bin.

Her favorite new "trick" is to make a clicking sound with her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Oh, she cracks herself up. Scott has this hare-brained idea that she's imitating the sound we make when we give her lots of smooches. Personally, I think it's wishful thinking but it does make it really sweet when she starts clicking away and we tell people "she's giving you kisses." She seems to know and has perfect timing, I almost start to believe.

She inherited some toys from her friends, HB and LP. One of the toys is this globe that sings the alphabet song when Slugger spins it. She was spinning it and the recorded vocie sang "h-i-j-k" and I swear that Slugger sang something that sounded exactly like "lllmmmmoooh." My jaw dropped. Was this pure coincidence or is she a complete genius and I should plan on her college graduation party being when she hits ten? I kept watching her but she never did it again but my fingers are crossed.

She's "couch cruising" and is still shaky on the legs but she has gotten a lot better and started to experiment with taking one hand or both hands off the couch.

She's become very attached to me...which I've been waiting for. But now, that it is here, it does make life much harder. She wants to be carried or held...by me. Honestly, I'm not sure why. I hug and love on her...but so does everyone else in her life...so I haven't figured out my appeal yet. But, I hug her harder when she clings to me and I'm enjoying this attachment for now because she might have slightly different feelings to me in about 15 years=)

[Uncle Steve was being a pain and kept throwing this cap over her head. But she could take it off]

[This is the first time I saw this happen. I put her down for her nap and was looking through a closet when I heard laughing and turned around to see this cute face staring at me.]

[I laugh every time I look at this screen shot of the baby video monitor. She and her nap buddy, Elmo, really are two peas in the pod]

[Yah, it's picture time. The monkey is back!!]

Want to see the first pictures she took with that monkey....travel back to September of last year!!