E has had quite a month! Clearly I’ve dropped the ball and missed her first birthday completely — I blame the hormonal and emotional drainage of her sudden decision to wean — but it’s about time I remedied that with a blog post.
First Birthday!
E turned one year old in early October! Hard to believe it’s been a year — and hard to imagine life without this little ray of sunshine.
We celebrated at our house with all four grandparents and her aunt, along with her parents and brother, of course. It was a ton of fun for all involved, and it was so nice to have those who love her most all under one roof for the day!
E enjoyed a red velvet cupcake and vanilla ice cream. (I wish I could say it was her first taste of ‘sweet’ but let’s face it — she’s a second child.)
I showed an eight minute slideshow of some of my favorite pictures of E from the last year, then we opened her presents! She got some really great toys and money for her college fund. :)
First Steps!
We were so sure she would walk before her first birthday — alas, not so much. She’s been so ready to do it, though — she just didn’t realize it. But finally, while her brother was asleep (and we could really focus on her), D and I sat down and passed her back and forth until she took her first steps!
Since then, she has been making great progress, walking farther each time and standing independently often. I even saw her bring herself from kneeling to standing without using her hands at all in the playard the other day!
First Clapping
She did this for the first time when we were sitting at dinner at a Mexican restaurant. People at another table that we couldn’t see would occasionally start applauding (no idea why), and E began clapping every time. I thought this was simply brilliant because she couldn’t see what they were doing — she just heard clapping and knew how they were achieving the sound!
She is now obsessed with clapping. Say “pattycake” or sing to this girl, and she immediately starts clapping. She even claps along to the music in my car sometimes.
First Waving
When her daddy walks in the room, she says (what sounds like, anyway), “Hey, Daddy,” and flaps her arms around. She is just adorable.
First Trick-or-Treating (Kind of)
OK, so I held her the whole time — but she did dress up this year and accompany her brother as he trick-or-treated through the neighborhood! No candy for this little Wonder Woman yet, though.
For the record, J chose his Halloween costume this year (first time for that), so I dressed E accordingly. I’m sure their costumes won’t always coordinate in the future, but how cute are they?!
First Bottle From Mom
This is the only first that makes me sort of sad. In my last post, I lamented E’s sudden “nursing strike” shortly before her first birthday — which turned out not to be a temporary nursing strike at all. My independent girl gave up breastfeeding almost overnight, but she still needs a bottle before bed. Thankfully, after 12 months, we had planned to introduce cow’s milk anyway, so we give her a bottle of either whole milk, formula, or breastmilk (although the freezer stash is nearly gone and the taps have run out).
It was really weird giving her a bottle for the first time — and having her take it from me with no hesitation.
I’m still a little sad about it. She’s my last baby, and her brother had weaned so gradually that I simply wasn’t prepared for how suddenly she gave it up.
But I’m also trying to enjoy her independence (that is definitely a good thing — at least until she’s two. Or thirteen.) as well as having my body back to myself, after 21 months of sharing it with another human being for sustenance. It’s freeing to not have to worry about what I eat or drink or whether I’ve taken my vitamins or whether my supply is adequate.
It’s been a big month for all of us, and now the holidays are approaching, which means time is just going to fly, I know. I love watching these two kiddos grow!
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