Dearest Claire, You are 1!

Dearest Claire,

Wow! You have sure come a long way from one year ago! Your daddy and I were so, so worried about you those first few months. First, you didn't breathe for the first 90 seconds of your life! The doctors assured us you were fine and you required no extra monitoring in the hospital, but it's was still scary. Then, at your 2 month doctor's appointment your head circumference was in the 0th percentile. Your head grew and returned back on the charts at your check at 3 months, but we couldn't help but worry that something else was wrong. Well, little girl - you are perfect in every way! I guess it's our job as parents to worry! What are you up to at 1 year?...

Claire, you are such a smiley little flirt. You grin at everyone and recently started to cock your head to the side or bring your shoulder to your ear while tilting your head when you smile at people! So sweet, but, Daddy is scared of what the future will hold! 

You also took your first steps this month! Just two days into your 12th month (September 7), you took several steps forward. For several days, you would take a few steps and then throw yourself forward. Now, as we round out month 12, you will take about 10 steps. I constantly see you toddling out of the corner of my eyes. You are very steady and have great balance. It won't be too long before you are a full-time walker. 

You learned how to climb atop the train table after watching David do it one day! You two are Trouble with a capital "T" when you're together, for sure! You can also climb down the stairs with assistance and are a pro at getting down the one step from our kitchen to our breakfast room. 

You will pretend to brush your hair when we give you a brush. You'll pretend to talk on the phone when given a phone or something that resembles one. You enjoy listening to books more than David does, but they still don't keep your attention for long. 

If you are asked to dance or clap, you ablige proudly. You will pat your belly with a huge smile on your face if asked where your belly is. You will give kisses sometimes. And if we ask you how old you are, you hold up 5 fingers proudly! Please don't try to grow up too fast, baby girl! 

You hate wearing bows or clips in your hair and will pull them out as soon as I put one in. Or, if you don't notice that I put one in your hair, David will notice and then HE will pull it out. Poor girl - if you're not wearing pink or purple, people totally think you're a boy. 

Peekaboo is so funny to play with you! Instead of covering your eyes, you cover your ears and then "pop" out! You think it's hilarious and so do we!

I'm not sure you have any words that you use appropriately quite yet, but you say "Dada" an awful lot. We realized that having a Daddy, a David, and a Darby (or a Doggy, for that matter) might make it difficult for us to decipher who you are speaking about. And I think I've heard you say "uh oh" after dropping your paci on the floor just today. I'll keep my ears peeled for more of that if it was a true word. 

We've been working hard on making the transition from formula in a bottle to whole milk in a cup. We've dealt with alot of crying and tears whenever you saw a cup come out instead of a bottle, but we have pushed through! As of now, three of your four bottles a day have been replaced with a sippy cup. During the transition, your cups or bottles were filled with a formula/milk cocktail, but you have no problem drinking cold milk straight. We just finished our very last container of formula powder, so it's all milk from here on out! I presume we will be bottle-free in the next week or so!

You and your brother love to play together and when I say "together", I mean David loves to take toys from you and you scream at the top of your lungs in disapproval. He also likes to use you as a base to pull up on (probably because you are always standing in the middle of the room), which also makes you cry. You both do enjoy laughing and talking in your own language to each other, so it's not all about tormenting and instigating!

At 1 year old, you are 31.25" tall (99.5%ile), weigh 19lbs 3oz (42%ile), and your head is 11%ile. You wear 12-18 month clothes, size 5 shoes, and size 4 diapers. 

Claire, you are such a sweetheart with a flair for the dramatic! Thank you for filling the last year with so much joy! We love you and can't wait to see what life has in store for you!