Anniston Kate, a Year in the Life
Today my little girl is 13 months old so I guess it's about time I get over the shock that she's ONE and actually accept she’s going to stick with this whole growing up thing! As I finally updated Anniston’s baby book and looked through her birthday party photos, I couldn’t help but reminisce on her first year of life! I’ve given you her birth story and her sappy birthday post (here and here), but today I’m keeping the tears away and just giving you an update on her day to day! Annnnnd maybe using this post as an excuse to share all of these photos from her party! I'm dying over the sweetness!
The life of a one year old is pretty stinking awesome and I know you are all desperate for details (kidding), but I do get a lot of questions about her schedule, what she eats, and all that fun stuff so for my mom/baby fever audience out there, this is for you!
MUST HAVE BOOK - Okay if you're a new mom or mom to be, I cannot recommend the book we used to help Anniston get on a schedule more. MOMS ON CALL. Best book EVER (find here). I was very (very very very) hesitant at first because I had heard how strict this book was and I didn't think that was for me. But I gave it a try and then there was no turning back! Anniston is a wonderful sleeper and has loved her schedule from the beginning (we started at three weeks) and thrives off of it! I thought the "schedule" was going to lock us down, but it actually frees us up! We're never guessing if she's going to be tired or hungry and are able to go out and be pretty confident that she will do well! *Disclaimer, I did not follow everything EXACTLY in the book. The book encourages you to let the baby cry during naps and nighttime to let her soothe herself and we never really had to do that. Anniston was naturally pretty chill from day one so she adjusted to the schedule easily and the few times she did cry I did go pick her up and soothe her (big no no in this book), but it was so rare that I was okay with it! Anniston was being put to bed AWAKE and sleeping 10 hours straight a night at 8 weeks (without crying it out!) and I know this book/schedule was a BIG reason! Cannot praise it more!
Current Schedule - So at one year old this is her current schedule...
7:00 am - Up for the day & Breastfeed (She usually wakes up sometime between 6:30 and 7:00, but just sings/plays in her crib until I come in at 7!)
7:15 am - diaper change, dressed for the day, playtime!
8:00 am - Breakfast (She eats a jar of a fruit and oatmeal mix every morning with either waffles, pancakes, or French toast. Sometimes if we have time she eats eggs and if she is ever still hungry at the end she has yogurt!)
9:30 am - Morning Nap (She goes down awake and quickly puts herself to sleep! She LOVES her crib! She will sleep anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half here.)
11:00 am - Morning Snack (Cheerios & Whole Milk)
12:00 pm - Lunch (A baby pouch of a fruit/vegetable mix. She doesn't like a lot of vegetable finger foods, but we have found a few ways to cook carrots and sweet potatoes that she likes. She LOVES all fruit so I cut up something new everyday. Then we finish off with her favorite, carbs! Ha! She usually eats a grilled cheese or pasta.)
1:30 pm - Afternoon Nap (She goes down awake and will sleep anywhere from an hour and a half to a great day, three hours!)
3:00 pm - Afternoon Snack (Cheese & Whole Milk)
*We usually run errands at this point before daddy gets home!
5/5:30 pm - Dinner (Similar to her lunch, but we add in diced chicken or meatballs. She also eats a little bit of what we are eating!)
6:45 pm - Bathtime
7:00 pm - Breastfeed
7:15 pm - Put down awake and she is down for the night!
Favorites - Anniston can make a toy out of just about anything (WHY do we continue to buy toys?), but she does have a few favorite things!
- She LOVES books, especially flip books! She loves when I read them to her, but she'll also sit there "reading" them on her own while I get things done! Give her a book when you put her in the car and she's a happy girl!
- She loves chasing anything around the house! A ball, a water bottle, a toy car, you name it, she can throw and chase it!
- WALKING TOYS. Oh my goodness she loves them. She has a true walker push toy, a toy car, and a wagon that she can push around the house. We keep them hidden in the guest room because she is OBSESSED with them and would play with them all day, everyday if she could choose (and mama just doesn't have the energy for that! Ha!). We get them out throughout the day and she gets SO excited. She also sometimes goes and sits at the guest room door and bangs on it until I cave and let her in!
- Bows! Everyone always asks, "How do you keep those bows on her?" and it has never really been a problem because she loves them! She loves trying to put them on herself and gets so excited when she actually succeeds. It's always crooked when she does it and that's my favorite. :)
- Play animals, PUPPIES, her teddy bear... she is a total animal lover! Not sure how we will handle this as she gets older with her daddy being a, well, not so animal person. ;)
Dislikes - We have been blessed because Anniston is an extremely happy baby, but of course she has her moments and a few things that make her a little (or a lot) unhappy...
- When Mama leaves (insert the big eyes, red faced emoji). This little one is a Mama's girl through and through which I LOVE, but it also breaks my heart whenever I have to leave her. She's always been sad when I leave, but now that she can actually reach out for me and cry "Mama!" through her tears, whew! It's a miracle I actually make it out the door!
- Car rides at night. She has not liked these pretty much since the beginning. We can try and keep her happy with her favorite music or talking to her, but sometimes, there is just no putting a smile on that face!
- Post Bath Time. She has not liked this since the beginning either! She has definitely gotten much better about it, but really, who likes getting out of warm bath anyway?
Milestones
- Crawling - 7.5 months
- Climbing - 8 months
- Pulling Up - 9 months
- "Mama" - 9.5 months
- Sitting Up - 9.5 months (SO funny that she did all of those other things before sitting up! Haha! She was definitely a little late on that one and I was SO first time mama worried! Funny story, she finally sat up for the first time on her own on Halloween in her tutu costume. It's like the tutu gave her the balance she needed and she could all of a sudden do it after that!)
- "Dada" - 10.5 months
- Cruising furniture/Walking while pushing something - 10.5 months
- "Nona" (grandma's name!) - 11.5 months
She's not quite walking on her own yet! I really thought she would be since she's been walking with something so easily for about 2.5 months, but I'm also totally okay with her not running around yet!
She also says her own words for a few of her favorite things like "shoes" is "shhh" and "socks" is "ssss". She LOVES socks and shoes (especially taking them off and trying to put them back on). She also says "datty" for "puppy" and that just cracks us up because it sounds like "daddy" and her Daddy could not dislike puppies more. ;)
Okay, let's be honest, this post was for me to reflect on and soak in the sweetness of my girl. If you made it this far, you're probably obsessed with babies like myself. I'm not sure if I'll ever get over her being one (maybe by the time she's two?!), but I am trying to be present and soak up every moment. Seasoned parents will tell you "babies don't keep" and those words could not be more true! This has been the fastest (and best!) year of our lives and every single day she does something new that brings a smile to my face! Watching her experience life is the absolute most fun and brings the most joy!
Here is to a new year with my... wait for it... TODDLER (what?!) and all the adventures it will bring!
