Dear Rylee,
I can't believe it. You're already a year old. Where has the time gone? You celebrated the monumental event on Saturday, January 13th - a few days before your actual birthday. Approximately 35 of your family and friends joined us as we celebrated the wonderful YOU.
You've had a very busy month. You're walking now and although you're still cautious, you're very proud of your new ability. You walk best when you're distracted. You have just started to be able to stand up without the help of furniture. You've also said way more words than I could possibly keep track of. I don't think you know the meaning of most of them but you do repeat most one (and a few two) syllable words that you hear.
You had your first flu this month and right now you're suffering from a bad cold. So much for the health benefits of breast milk! I was afraid that I might have to cancel your birthday party because of your flu but you managed to stay above the weather for the day. The following day we had your 1 year photos taken at the house and you were one grumpy little girl. I still can't wait to see the pictures, though!
At the beginning of month 12 you started sleeping through the night although you've been waking 2-3 times a night since you've been sick. We're feeding you formula through month 13 to give you a little boost in nutrition. We have tested everything under the sun to see if maybe you can tolerate bits of dairy and so far you are allergic to everything. You really like canned fruit and you LOVE bread. On your birthday I made you a dairy-free cake that was terrible... you didn't get far past the chocolate frosting. We let you go to town on a REAL cake the following day during your photo shoot and we certainly paid for it later! We are really struggling to figure out ways to keep you full since there is so little you can eat. I haven't dared to try peanut butter yet. We'll save that for another day far far from now.
You are still an AMAZINGLY happy baby although your stubborn streak has been showing more lately than usual. You are the most defiant baby I know. Even your daycare provider says that you're the most stubborn baby that SHE has ever met. The discipline thing is an ongoing battle and I hope when you have children some day they give you as hard a time as you do me - and I hope they're just as cute as you (which makes it twice as hard). Whenever I say no to you you totally break down laughing. Every once in a while you'll mix things up a bit by mocking me or repeating my "noooo" ... but mostly it's just laughing. You LOVE to climb and are always trying to climb your little chair. We finally had to move it downstairs until you get older. You also love to play with baby dolls... it is so adorable how you "feed" them with the bottles, rock them, pat their backs and burp them on your knee. You are so observant and love to copy children. I can tell that you pick up most of your habits from daycare because you come home doing the funniest things. You still love to dance whenever there is music on or someone singing. And although the lip thing is adorable, meme and bumpa might be right about the "dubba dubba dubba". You still love your baths although instantly try to claw your way out of the time when I start to rinse you off. You still put everything in your mouth. You still have 8 teeth and I think this month you were teething a bit. You are especially cuddly and will give everyone a hug after you walk to them. You are still absolutely infatuated with Manny (and most dogs) and you will dive into his sea of fur everytime that you see him. When I get home from picking you up each day, you look over my arms and squeal until we walk through the door and you can get a look at that dog of yours. You always know that he'll be waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
At your one year well-baby Dr. appt you weighed 19 pounds, 6 ounces and were 30 inches long. That puts you in the 25th percentile for weight and the 75% for height. Mama jokes that if there were an "adult" growth chart, she would like to have those stats, too. You're a tall lean girl with VERY big feet.
You still have the sweetest little quirks and you keep us laughing every day. You go down like a charm at night and wake up with a smile. You're still not very interested in books or TV... you might've spent a total of about 7 minutes in front of both in your life. You love to "share" with people and then immediately take the item back before they have a firm grip on it. And when you throw your tantrums, you quickly glance back at whatever you're about to land on so you can take it easy if it's a hard surface. You're very sly.
I can't begin to tell you how much enjoyment you bring to our lives, Rylee. We absolutely love every moment of you. Happy 1st birthday, Rylee!
Love, Mama
