One Year Old

My big Worm you are one year old. You have weathered all four seasons, experienced every holiday, and brightened 365 days with your sunny personality. I am so proud to be the mama of a one year old girl...I am so proud of you!

You are really starting to grow into yourself and beginning to display your independence. We've just begun to experience your first wiggling, body-flailing bouts of defiance when you are not so pleased with our choices for you. It's a challenge, for sure, but secretly I'm so excited to see you begin to show your own preferences for things. I'm hopeful that I can be skilled enough to nurture your independent spirit while setting appropriate boundaries for you. What an exciting challenge!

You're quite a bruiser and I'm beginning think that the scrapes on your knees are a permanent fixture! You don't seem to be afraid to tackle physical challenges (now the vacuum cleaner...that's a different story!) and you dive headfirst into each new task. Recently, you've become quite proud of your ability to get yourself into your little Sofie-sized rocking chair. You're not quite tall enough to back into it, so instead you climb up onto it. Then you find yourself sitting backwards, so you carefully swivel your legs around to the front, and after you've squirmed yourself into a position you're happy with you rock rock rock yourself with a big grin across your face. You've knocked the chair and yourself over plenty of times in your pursuit but it hasn't discouraged you much at all. You're even beginning to work on balancing yourself standing on top of it while mama grits her teeth nearby and let's you feel out your limits on your own! This month you also tried out the sliding board on your own and you pretty much think that's the best invention in the world. It elicits hearty belly laughs each time...from you and from us too!

New vocabulary this month includes "Wow! Doo! (shoe) Nana, Nona (your baby doll), Uh Oh! Tickle tickle, and Oof, Oof (Woof Woof)" You're pretty convinced that every animal says, "Woof Woof!" The geese that you loved listening for all through last winter have returned. This morning we had a brief run-in with them as we were leaving the house, you crying out "Oof oof! Oof oof!" all the way! You also sort of modify your Woof to attempt a monkey sound "Oo oo!" Your gestures have increased this month as well. You know the signs for eat and for finished. You've started pointing at things, although your point is somewhat haphazard and it's often difficult to figure out what you're interested in. You like to point your pointer finger right up nose to nose with mine and giggle. You pat the ground when I pull out a new diaper for you...a mimicry of my gesture for, "Hey you crazy woman, get your bottom over here and plop it on this diaper right now!"

I'm pleased to announce that you absolutely love your birthday baby doll, Baby Nona. You pretty much drag her around everywhere with you (and she's got the banged up dirty face to prove it!) You like to put her in her cradle for a little rocking, then pull her back out again, over and over and over. You like to push her around in her baby stroller (sometimes while she sits, quite acrobatically, on her head!) You like to un-velcro her clothes and feed her a bottle (with intermittent breaks to taste what's in there for yourself!) Most nights we put Baby Nona to bed in her cradle. In the morning, after we settle a bit into our routine, I say to you, "Sofie, where's baby Nona? Is she still sleeping? Go wake her up!" You diligently waddle into the bedroom where you shuffle around awhile and then emerge, ever the proud mama, beamingly clutching your baby.

You're quite a little charmer and you consistently have strangers fawning over you. One morning we were at the library, and as I spent a few minutes on one of the computers, you made your rounds flirting with all the other computer-patrons. As we got up to leave, a man with kind eyes remarked, "I think she's going to be a politician!" You're happy to introduce yourself to pretty much anyone and you love to be the center of attention. This morning after story-time ended you were thoroughly enjoying some kiddy music that was playing on a CD and you must have felt that it was just the right time to do an impromptu interpretive dance. You bopped and swayed, swinging your arms from side to side, and twirled in circles as we all admired you. You had me laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face...and that is what you've blessed me with most this year...lots of uninhibited laughter. Laughter and joy, pure unadulterated joy. May you always have a glimmer in your eye, my one year old girl. You will always put one in mine!