You are officially a one-year-old!! I can't believe it. You have left the world of baby-hood, and stepped (literally!!) into the world of toddler-hood. The year flew by...it seems crazy to think that it was just a year ago we were taking you home from the hospital, scared out of our minds (but soooo excited!). We are finding ourselves saying, "remember a year ago??" a LOT. You have changed SO much in a year. We are SO proud of the little lady you have become. You have brought us more joy, more love, and more amazement in the last year that we EVER could have imagined.
You learned how to walk...
You've been an active little one since the day you were born. Holding your head up within the first few days...early to creep and crawl... always wanting to be on the move. We knew you'd walk earlier rather than later, and to be honest we were a little surprised it took you until you were almost one to decide you wanted to tackle walking! All in your own time, my Sweet Pea, just as it should be.
Last month you learned how to walk with the assistance of a push toy or holding someone's hand. You very quickly improved upon that, and it became your movement method of choice. Slowly but surely we saw that you were getting more and more daring. First, you'd take one hand off the push toy, and proudly walk one-handed. Too cute. Then we'd see you try to take both hands off. Then you'd wobble wobble wobble while you tried to get the right momentum to make independent movement forward.
You took your first stumbling steps solo at the end of July/very beginning of August. Magna was very excited when you took 4 steps for her at daycare on August 2nd. And then over that weekend, you quickly decided that walking is your thing! All of a sudden that Saturday, you were up and walking! Magna was amazed when you came on Monday as a full-on walker!
That's how you've always learned, Linnea, and it's fascinating. You observe. You practice. And practice. And practice. You start fitting pieces together until one day you are off and running with a new skill (literally!!).
Your walk is getting better by the day. You'll be running with mama in no time! :-)
You gave up bottles...
Not too long ago, you dropped one of your bottle feedings during the day without any issue. And then, over the last several weeks, you were showing less and less interest in the bottle. You didn't like being slowed down to have to drink from your bottle. In addition, as you have been eating more and more food, you've had less need for the nutrition in your bottle.
Daddy knew that you could give up your bottles, and you were ready. I was a little more nervous. So one weekend, while Mama was out on a Saturday morning, Daddy gave sippy cups a try. You took them no problem! That Daddy is a smart guy.
At first we still gave you a bottle at night before bed, but quickly discovered that wasn't necessary. You are getting to be such a big girl! Now you have a cup of milk with each meal, and a cup of milk after your afternoon nap. Your milk at dinner time sometimes turns into a bedtime snack, but either way, no bottles Wow.
Soon we'll be transitioning you to whole milk (Dr. Khan gave us the green light to do that at your appointment). All of sudden you aren't a baby anymore! You are a walking, talking, drinking from a cup toddler! Wow.
You went to the cottage...
A fun and special place for our family is Daddy's family's cottage in Holcombe, WI. We like to visit at least once a year (preferably over the 4th of July because no one does 4th of July quite like the Grosvolds!)
This year it didn't work out to go to the cottage over the 4th of July (since it was on a Wednesday, and we had limited time we could take away), so we decided to go a little later in July.
The three of us (and Luther) made our way up to the cottage on a Friday afternoon. We had a great weekend! It was a pretty quiet weekend up there....just a few of your great aunts and uncles coming in and out. It was great - we relaxed....we went for boat rides... we swam a little bit.
A huge highlight was going geocaching.... a lot. Your great uncle Jeff is who got us into geocaching. He (and others) have hidden caches all over. There were even some that you could only get to by boat! We love this fun family hobby, and had a great time doing lots of it while at the cottage.
You did great - you slept awesome, ate well, did well in the car, and absolutely charmed your great aunts and uncles. We are so stinkin' proud of you.
You attended your first wedding...
The weekend before your birthday was a special event - Rachel and Mike's wedding! Although they are "just" friends, we call them "aunt" and "uncle" because they are such close friends of ours. They are like family! So of course, their wedding was a VERY special occasion.
Rachel and Mike's wedding was the first wedding you've ever attended. The wedding took place in Red Wing, which is about an hour away. Since the logistics of trying to drive home after the wedding did not sound too fun, we decided to stay the night and make it a little trip.
We had a great time! I had to be there all day since I was in the wedding, so it was you and Daddy together most of the day. You made it to Red Wing with Daddy for the ceremony. You did pretty well (lucky for everyone that Grandpa was there too to help tag team!). You also made it through cocktail hour (no drinks for the baby!), before you were ready for dinner and bed. Grammy and Grampy came down for the evening to get you fed and down for bed. You did great!
We had lots of time to hang out with our dear friends, both side of grandparents, and each other as a family! What a great weekend!
You've grown and changed a lot too...
You went to the doctor on your birthday. You did great! You walked and talked up a storm, and thoroughly impressed Dr. Khan. You are right on track in all areas - and a little ahead of the game in some areas, including (not a surprise) gross motor movements.
You weighed in at 21 lbs, 1 oz. (51st percentile) and measured 30 3/4" (93rd percentile). What a big girl! Such a change from a year ago. :-)
You are still wearing 9 and 12 month clothes... although the 9 month clothes are getting fewer and fewer. There are more and more 18 month clothes thrown in the mix. You are still in size 3 diapers. Every time we buy a box we wonder if it'll be our last, but they still seem to fit well.
You are still loving finger food, although your growth seems to be leveling off, and your eating is too. It has been fun for us to have you eat what we eat, and you like it too. When we were in Red Wing for the wedding, we had a quick breakfast time snack with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa fed you some of his pancake, and you LOVED it. You spent the rest of the meal trying to snitch tastes of his plate. You are starting to get just a bit pickier, although there are new favorites that come up every day. Most recent favorites include: kiwi, pancakes, and Swedish meatballs
As I said earlier, your milk drinking habits have really changed. Milk with each meal (in addition to nursing at night). Your dinner milk turns into your before bed milk - we don't even give you a separate one. What a change. You seem to be adjusting very well. You like drinking from your cup now. No turning back from bottles! We'll be starting whole milk soon.
You, as always, are a great sleeper. You have shown signs that you are ready to shorten your AM nap. At daycare you are down to just 20 minutes in the morning. You take a nice long nap (2 1/2 hours) in the afternoon. You sleep great at night, going to bed by 6:45 most nights (though that seems to be getting a little bit later - yay!)
You have developed SUCH a personality, and I feel like that's showing itself more and more each day. You still love peek-a-boo. You are curious and inquisitive. You are daring and tough. You are a chatterbox. You are stubborn. You love to learn.
Your problem solving skills are out of this world. You can just see pieces of things click in your brain.
Just recently you shocked us both by showing that you knew EXACTLY what to do with your shoes. You pulled them out of the bag they were in, sat down, and tried to put them on your feet. The act seems simple, but think about how much thought goes into that, it's quite impressive. You are so smart. We couldn't be more proud.
What a year it's been! It seems like it's been forever since you have been in our lives, but at the same time the time has gone in a flash. We consider ourselves so lucky to have you as our daughter We love you SOOOO much.
Hugs and kisses,
Mama and Daddy
