Madeline: 12 Months

It is quite difficult to believe that little Madeline is one year old! What year full of adventure, travel, growth, and joy for us all. We feel so blessed to have had this sweet little girl enter our lives; I think we all honestly cannot even imagine life before she was ours. It is quite odd to think that a year ago we were prepping for the arrival of a sweet baby we though we would name Oliver. . . .  despite all there is no doubt we got the correct little one for our family!

It has become quite clear the last month that Madeline is quickly leaving the infant stage, and wanting to be more and more like her older sisters. She is energetic, passionate, fun, and full of life. She now regards herself as one of the "big girls" and as such tries to do anything and everything that she watches her siblings do. She loves to play and explore, and loves people. She is quite a people person!

When I set off to photograph her each month with her bunny, I failed to recognize how hard it would become by the end of her first year! The bunny is now an object to throw, kiss, wave around, etc. making it quite difficult to capture. I love being able to see the growth over the year though, and how small the bunny now looks. It's been a fun project and I love having a years worth of pictures documenting Maddie's first year of life. 

At her one year check-up she weighed in at 19 lbs. 15.9 oz and 29 inches long, which puts her about 25% across the board. We are three for three with babies turning one sub-20 lbs. Large babies do not seem to be our forte. She still seems quite petite. 

Madeline is quite fast on all fours, and is starting to really pull up and cruise on her own. She is still far from walking on her own, making her easily my latest walker. She has stood for a few brief seconds on her own, but for the most part is pretty unmotivated to work too hard on walking. She has also turned into quite the communicator. I have never pushed signing with my little ones- for a number of reasons, but Madeline has done an amazing job creating her own body language to communicate with us. Her clearest "sign" is opening and closing her palm to indicate she wants something (particularly MORE of something- usually food!). She talks a ton too, and is starting to really try to repeat and create words.

At 12 months Madeline:

- Loves to play with her sisters

- Nursed until 12 months (my first one!!)

- Naps 1-2 times a day, usually 2 hours at a time

- Has five teeth- three top, two bottom

- Loves to wave and say hi to people

- Waves bye-bye

- Can say mama, dada, hi, bye, baby

- Insists on taking her blanket out of her crib with her every morning

- Loves a good game of peek-a-boo and toss-me-in-the-air

- Loves reading books, and is quite particular about which are read at bedtime