Violet at 12 Months

Growth & Appearance: Your hair has grown long enough to barely get in your eyes. It also covers your ears and sometimes gets wavy at the neck. It also seems slightly lighter than before. You're still incredibly pale, but your arms have a little smidgen of color from spending time outside. Some days I think your legs look fatter, other days I think it's just the summer time attire showing them off. You have a slouchy posture about you while sitting in the floor. In general, you look so much older. You look more like a little girl and less like a baby.

You weigh 24 lbs and are 30 inches long. 18 month clothing. Moving into size 5 diapers.

Teeth: Eight.

Development: You've recently started pointing at things. You do it often. When asked where the moon is you will point to the sky and look up. You're very good at locating it and enjoy moon gazing. When the dogs bark you will shake your little pointed finger at them, puff your cheeks up, and scold them for being noisy. Your fussing at them sounds something like, "Hub-bub-boo-woo-woo." You're very stern.

You seem a little - erm... bossy. I think you just have good leadership skills is all. You have temper tantrums that are quite dramatic. If something is taken from you or you're told no you will squat and cry the most pitiful cry.

You're quite nosey and you want to be where people are. You've developed the bad habit of opening the cabinet doors, taking out a bag of chips, and bolting off with it because you know you're not allowed to have it.

At one time you were shy around strangers or large groups of people. You left that behavior in the dust. You will now show off for people, running about wildly and squealing. When we skype with Dada you will show off by bringing your toys for him to see.

You think passing gas is hilarious, so you often force out poots and laugh about it. You also crawl underneath the same table to poop.

Anytime someone says, "here kitty, kitty" you sound off a melody of "maaaao, mooow, mrow." It's quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. You say "bye" many time when someone is leaving, even if they're just leaving the room. You wave and will also blow kisses to people you see fit to receive them.

When someone says, "Where's Violet?" you quickly cover your eyes with both hands. While you're "hiding" you make a series of singy noises, completely giving away your location. After several seconds you will jerk your hands down and wait for us to say, "there she is!" You really enjoy this game, so we play it often.

When someone says, "Shame shame" you rub your fingers together shaming them. You will also place your finger to your lips and say, "Shhhhh." This usually involves a lot of spit.

You try to carry many things at a time. It's actually pretty impressive. If you can't hold everything you want you will press your items against your body to carry it.

You like to push buttons. You have memorized where every button on every toy is.

You brush your teeth and your hair. You will scribble with crayons briefly, then you try to eat them.

On my last post I said you crawled 70% of time and walked 30%. You now crawl 0% of the time and run 95% of the time.

Eating: Your picky habits of last month seemed to have departed. Your appetite has increased and is very big. You are definitely not a vegetarian, which makes your Daddy proud. I think he daydreams of the two of you going on daddy/daughter dates to steakhouses.

You take food very seriously. Anytime you see someone with a bowl or a plate you yell, "Bite! Bite!" and pursue them. You have actually cornered people before in search of your beloved bites. You very matter-of-factly say, "bite" as soon as we enter the kitchen first thing in the morning. You still make "nom, om, om" noises as you eat things you find particularly delicious.

You will usually feed yourself with your hands or use your own utensils. You're very independent.

You usually nurse one time a day and 1-2 times at night now. We've successfully transitioned from goat's milk to organic whole cow milk. You drink several ounces a day and enjoy it.

Sleeping: You've recently switched up your naps and are trying to condense to one nap a day. You still take two some days, and one long one on others.

You've been doing better at sleeping by yourself. At one time I had to lay with you the entire nap to get much out of it. Now you're usually fine for me to leave once you're asleep. Overall, you seem to sleep more soundly lately.

Favorites: The dog leashes. Without a doubt, the dog leashes. You will drag them all over the house and fiddle with them for hours. You sometimes try to hook them up the dogs, but you can usually be found walking about with them draped over and in your arms. You also love laundry. When the laundry is brought out to be folded you very efficiently pluck out a few hand towels and romp all over the house with them. You usually end up rubbing them all over the floor, so they end up back in the dirty clothes basket.