We went to the doctor this week for her one year check up, and here are her stats:

length: 32 inches (93rd percentile)

head circumference: 18 inches (90th percentile)

weight: 23 pounds and some ounces (80th percentile)

She seems to be following a similar pattern to her sister.  Start out round and chubby, and then just stretch out!  She is a full time walker, and we almost never see her butt scooting anymore.  She really loves her big sister, and often will lay her head down on Isabell’s shoulder or lap.  Currently, Mia’s favorite game is what I call “Attack Of The Killer Baby!!”  She walks over and throws herself across your tummy while you’re laying on the floor.  Usually it’s just a good way to get a snuggle from her, but she has caught me by surprise a few times!!

I can’t believe how big she is getting!  Still not many words, though she does chatter up a storm.  Her only spontaneous word seems to be “uh-oh”, though there are times I swear she also says “Dada”.  She has signs for: MORE, CRACKER, MILK, ALL DONE, PLEASE.  And she will copy lots of things, though “ni night” seems to be a big one right now.  She is a serious pointer, and will tell you what she wants.  She says “thank you” though it’s mostly just intonation.

Can’t believe how much she has changed over the past few month.  Four months ago she was barely rolling over, and was pretty dang quiet….I miss the little baby, but dang the toddler is getting her 3rd and 4th tooth now, and she’s dang cute too. 

Miraculously, both girls slept through the night.  Amelia complained a few times of being cold, so Nashon had to get up and put a blanket back over her.  About 6 am Nashon finally put her in his mummy bag with him and they slept that way for about an hour.  Morning came, breakfast was cooked with the help of Isabell and off she went to play.  In the dirt with her cousins.  Climbing,  running, digging, and picking as many dandelions as they could find.  In fact, she managed to entertain herself the entire time it took to break down camp and pack the car (who knew that camping for one night required so much STUFF).  Other than the drive taking almost an hour longer than planned to get home, it was a nice drive.  Both girls napped in the car and played well, only a few crying fits from each of them.

It was nice to see Nashon’s sister and cousins again, and it was a good trip.  We plan to do another trip next year, but hopefully we will pick someplace that will take reservations in advance, and is a bit cooler (or has shade at least).  The other thing that would have made it a better trip, is if Mia was able to toddle a bit more on her own without needing us to hold her all of the time.  Hopefully she will take a few more steps before our next camping trip in a few weeks.

Her other big news is gross motor.  At 8 months she still wasn’t rolling over consistently.  After 30-minutes with a PT and a lot of practice at home and at school, Amelia is now rolling, scooting (no, not really crawling), pulling to stand, squatting with support, cruising, transferring between furniture items, and now has taken her first steps!!  Tonight at my sister’s house she took three steps to get away from Ammie and to me.  Sadly, Nashon was occupied with Isabell and didn’t get to see it.    We are hoping to recreate it for him tomorrow, but she still took her first steps tonight!
It is SO hard to believe that she will be one next month.  I don’t know where the past year went.  My baby is turning into a big kid faster than I want her to.  I know they say enjoy every moment, but that advice is both given and heard in hind sight.  Love the babies, but I can’t believe how fast they grow up.

The Easter Bunny found the girls at our house this morning, and Isabell has been enjoying frequent Peeps; I think it a very good thing that they are only out once a year, or our lives would be awful with her asking for them every 10 minutes. Right now they are being eaten when she tinkles on the potty; she has had 2 days of dry diapers except at nap and bed times. This INCLUDED the trip to the festival; she tinkled in her little potty in the back of the car AND in a port-a-potty.

The last few pictures are from Isabell’s project today. She created her own “very hungry caterpillar” book this afternoon. She did ALL of the gluing by herself. Then when she was done she turned the book around and read it to me, one page at a time. She was careful to point out each of the pictures to me, and asked me to help her count the fruit.

Amelia is getting better at rolling over! She is consistently going tummy to back, and is about 95% of the way over when she goes from back to tummy. She is trying to get from sitting into hands and knees, but tends to get one leg stuck under her, and if you try to help she extends all her extremities and goes flat on her tummy. I can’t believe how fast time flies, and how big she is already! She will be 8 months old next week…

Guess she’s been hearing that somewhere…I wonder where? At least the things she hears us saying aren’t bad for others to hear.

Oh child, someday I hope that you can look back on all of these random things you’ve told us and find them as amusing as we are finding them today. Every day you tell us something new, something funny, or something profound. You crack us up until we’re in tears, and you pick the strangest things to imitate. You truly are one of a kind, and we wouldn’t have you any other way (though we wouldn’t complain if you whined a little less!!) LOVE YOU!

But today, Isabell told her teacher “No off potty. I still tinkling!” and then SHE TINKLED IN THE POTTY AT SCHOOL!!! We are very excited that this may be the beginning of the end of diapers for Isabell. I can’t wait for her to use the potty all the time!

Talk about bringing a tear to my eyes. I can’t believe how much I love it when she says things like that without me telling her first.

That said, lets talk about the new things going on in Amelia’s life. We went to the doctor last week for her four month well child check up. Things looked good, and there weren’t any concerns. She is now 15lb and 5ounces, and 24.5 inches long. She is growing every day, and had practiced some new tricks. She has been trying to reach out and grab things for some time, but she is now 100% successful at stealing things from our hands (or the hair on our head, or glasses on our face) and putting them directly into her mouth. Isabell thinks this is grand, and often will get toys for Mia to “play” with. Amelia has also been practicing sitting up. She loves her bumbo, but isn’t great on her own yet. If we get her on the right kind of surface (i.e. the couch crack) she will stay upright for a bit, and if she’s reclining on our lap she will pull herself up into sitting. But when you place her on the floor, she keeps her hands on her knees until she tips to one side. She has also gotten a lot better with rolling over. She is getting pretty good at rolling tummy to back, and will pull herself from back to tummy when you give her something to pull against. She is getting cuter each day; her eyes are still blue, but her hair seems to be getting more blonde or reddish. We may truly have one kid that looks like a Steffen, and one that looks like a Fowler; only time will tell.

Both girls are back in school 3 days a week now that I am back at work. Isabell really loves being around her friends, and was more than ready to go back. She has only cried at drop off once (with Nashon), and is generally doing well there. However, we have returned to the land of super snotty noses and a yucky cough. Gotta love being around other snot factories. Amelia is no exception; while her cold isn’t nearly as bad as Isabell’s she is still congested and we are happy once again to have her on the reflux wedge that sits her up when she’s sleeping.

Isabell has made another jump from toddler to little kid, and has begun asking “why” about everything in her world. For any of you who have spent time around a small child, it is one of the most annoying words in the English language…and she’s only 26 months old. She got a little kitchen for Christmas, and has enjoyed playing with it and cooking food and having tea parties with anyone that will sit down with her long enough to enjoy a cup of tea. If you ever get bored, feel free to come over and entertain her; she seems to have gotten over being afraid of everyone, and generally will initiate play with just about anyone.