Better Than I Deserve: One YEAR Old!

I cannot believe that I am writing Briella's one year post (and a few weeks late, as usual)! This past year was perhaps the quickest year of my life!

Briella, my dear sweet baby girl, you are now one year old! Wow, you are growing so quickly and it is such a joy for us to watch you grow and learn and to see more and more of your personality! We love you!

Life in General
When this month started you were still half army crawling and half hands and knees crawling. Well, within just a few days you left the army crawling behind and haven't looked back! You are so quick, getting wherever you want. It's so much harder to keep up with you now!

As quickly as things changed with crawling, they also changed with pulling yourself up. Mostly pulling up to your knees and some to your feet at the beginning, quickly progressed to pulling yourself to your feet all the time. This includes standing in your crib once you wake up, waiting for momma or daddy to come get you.

Opening and shutting (not all the way) doors is something that you really like doing and you can actually sit there for quite a while closing the door then crawling over to it and opening it back up then crawling back to shut it and on and on. I find it quite entertaining to watch you. :)

You pretty much eat whatever now, which means you have tried a lot of different things. We still don't feed you what we eat a lot of the time simply because it lacks the nutrition we want you to get. (I know, a double standard, huh? Ha ha) Some people even made fun of me because I made you a "healthy" first birthday cake. Oh well. I tasted it and it was pretty yummy actually, just simply sweetened with bananas and apple juice. Mmmmm.

You've started to kind of give kisses and hugs. You will lean in (sometimes, you know, if you feel like it) for me to give you a kiss or a hug. So much fun!

We (momma and you) took a trip to California on an airplane just the two of us. I, admittedly, was quite nervous to make the trip, but it was great! And you did pretty good. I'm just glad the flights weren't any longer because 2 hours was about the longest you wanted to sit still. :) It was a great help that daddy was flying out that same time to go to Alaska, so he helped getting through security and on the way back the Long Beach Airport is so small that it was quite simple to get through and those working security were very helpful as well. And I am so glad we went because we had so much fun with the Taylors!

After our California trip where you got to ride in a sit up carseat for the first time, we bought you a new carseat so you can sit up instead of lay down. And even though you still have to be facing backwards, you really, really enjoy being able to see out the windows better!

At your 12 month check up, which was a week after your birthday, you weighed 18 lbs 6 oz and length was 27.5 in. Still in the 10th percentile. :)

Firsts

Valentine's Day - We made heart-shaped cauliflower crust pizzas. Yum!
Trip on an airplane with just momma.
Time swinging. You LOVED it!
Time going down a slide. You were a bit indifferent about it.
Riding in a sit up carseat. First in California and then once we got home we bought you your own.

Pictures from Month 12

Happy Valentine's Day! (in her dress from Grandma Karla)

At the airport waiting for our flight to California (Daddy was on his way to Alaska and his gate was only a short distance away, so it worked out wonderfully to hang out together in the airport (and for his help through security.))