On Saturday, Alexis turned one. That’s 1… a whole year old! We’ve managed to keep another human being alive for a whole year!

• The most steps she has taken in a row on her own is about 5-6. But she is very fast at walking around the house while pushing things: a little ride-on toy, her old activity gym, her new lawn mower, the kitchen chairs and bar stools.
• She likes fruit, a lot. I really wish she would eat more savory things. Her first foods were all vegetables which she devoured with glee. Now, she’s harder to please. She will not eat meat and if some accidentally gets in her mouth she pulls it back out. She won’t eat egg. She won’t eat beans anymore. I don’t want to turn food into a battle, I don’t want to make food a reward or punishment… but I’m a little nervous that she isn’t eating enough!
• She has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom) and she’s working on pushing out two more… molars on the top. They seem to be the meanest of all the teething thus far, poor girl constantly has two fingers in her mouth trying to soothe them.
• She can wave, she claps her hands, she will give you five or a high-five. She’s learning to go off the couch “bum and feet first” so she turns around instead of going headfirst. She likes putting stuff in stuff… so we play a lot with cups and bowls. My grandmother brought me a set of Russian nesting dolls from her trip to Russia when I was younger that I have given to Alex, she really likes them and she knows exactly how many are in the set (she was a little annoyed at first when she opened them up and realized I left the smallest one at home when we went on vacation.)
• She can say mama, da (Dad), dah (dog or doll) and she says things that sound like words a lot, but not consistently. For instance, tonight when she finished eating some blueberries, she said “ah dah” while doing the sign for “all done.” It seemed too close to be pure coincidence… we’ll see if it continues.
• She pets the dog… finally has learned to actually pat her as opposed to grabbing the dog’s fur. Yes, there are still moments where she tries to grab the dog’s fur, fortunately Jade is pretty patient with her for the most part. We have to make Jade sit or lay on the other side of the table during dinner, else she’ll circle the baby’s chair and then Alex will purposely drop food to the dog.
• She is finally sitting still for me to read a book to her. I love books and I had this vision that we would curl up in the rocking chair and read books together. That’s not the way it plays out. Usually I start reading a book, she crawls away and I hold the book open and follow her around trying to read it aloud to her. But every now and then she’ll sit still and let me read a whole book to her. The first book she sat still for was “My Favorite Run” – we had to read the Kindle version though so she didn’t destroy the book. If a book isn’t a board book, she will rip it to tiny pieces.
• She is 17 lbs 4 oz. and 28.5″ tall. (I’m saying tall now, since she can stand up!)

For her first birthday, we drove to my mom’s house to have a party. My dad came and Kevin’s parents came. All 4 of her grandparents got to celebrate. Also, Kevin’s oldest brother and his oldest daughter were there because they fortuitously happened to be visiting at the time. They hadn’t met her yet, so it was nice to introduce her. Although, she wouldn’t let anyone other than me, Kevin and my mom hold her.

Her smash cake came from Retro Bakery. She hardly made a mess of it. She rested her forearm in the cake. I stuck my finger in the frosting and dabbed it on her lips so she would try it. She did end up with quite a bit of frosting up and down her arms and smeared on her face, but very little made it into her mouth! She wasn’t even messy enough to require a full bath and she could keep wearing the clothes she was wearing when she was presented the cake. I thought for sure I would have to change her clothes!

I still find parenting to be a completely mind-blowing and exhausting endeavor. But I love this little girl more than I ever could have imagined. It almost makes my heart ache to think how much I love her. I miss her while she is at school and when she needs to go to bed at night. She is such a sweet and wonderful addition to our family.