twelve months!

Well, the day has finally come. Our twelve month update. This little nugget is an entire year old (and a few days, but who's counting?).

A whole YEAR, Mommy??! I am GROWN!!!!

That means this was our very last photo shoot with stickers and forcing her to pose on the precariously rocking chair. She will probably be sadder about that than I will.

It's like a rollercoaster!!!

 So grab a hanky, cause it's our last trip through these particular questions. Well, maybe I'll do it again at 18 months, just for fun. Or like, age 13 years and 2 months. Just because.

Aliases: Nothing's changed here. Millie, Mills, Millsie, Millsie Lou, Nuggie, Nugs, Snugs, Snuggles, Little Bit.

Stats: Since she just so happened to be sick on her birthday (how convenient!), we got a free weigh-in. 24 pounds and 4 ounces to close out year #1. She hasn't had her twelve-month checkup yet, so I'm not sure how tall she is, but she's still going strong in 12-month and 12-18 month clothes. Her disposable dipes are size 4. Now that she walks, she needs to wear shoes...she's about a size 3 in baby/toddler shoes, but since all of the "real" shoes seemed to rub/scratch her feet in various places, I ordered a few more pair of trusty moccasins and called it a day. They're her trademark, really.

I mean, my moccs are functional AND fashionable- what more could a girl want?

She closed out her first year with approximately 7.5 teeth. Four up top, three downstairs, and another bottom guy jussssst starting to poke through. She is every apple's worst nightmare. CHOMP!

Habits: 

• Eating: She all but lost interest in her bottles during month twelve. We still offered them to her 4-5 times a day, but she drank maybe 12-15 ounces total per day. She got much more excited about drinking water out of her sippy cup this month, and she continued being an excellent Real Food eater. She eats three normal meals each day with us/with her classmates, plus two snacks. At school, she doesn't even use a high chair for her meals! She sits at a (tiny) table in her own chair and apparently stays there long enough to feed herself! She still does not use utensils, but she's amazingly adept at self-feeding. Now that her "weaning" is complete, I must give a huge final shout-out to Baby-led Weaning. It was the easiest, cheapest, and most fun ever, and our girl is a fantastic eater. And I never once had to buy or make baby food. WE ALL WIN.
• Sleeping is about the same as it's been for the last few months. She goes to bed around 8:30 p.m. and wakes up between 6:30-7:30 a.m. She was transitioning to the one-year-old classroom at her school, and the nap situation there is totally different (and apparently WAY BETTER for her) than it is in the infant room, so I have to break her nap details into two parts. When she was still in the infant room, she napped whenever she felt like it, which usually meant 2-3 really short (15-30 minute) naps per day. In the one-year-old room, they all nap (on little cots!!) at once, and only once per day. Since she's moved there, she's napped for 2.25 hours per day, plus another short nap when we come home in the evening. I guess they really wear her out in there!

Likes: Playing with her "sister" Lola and giving her toys/blankets/books/food/anything.

LOLA!!! Here is your toy!! I will hit your face with it until you take it!!

She loves going outside, playing with anything (doesn't matter if it's actually a toy...used tissues from the trash can are totally fair game and SUPER FUN, evidently), reading stories, splashing in Lola's water bowl, swimming, cuddling with her blankies, drinking out of grown-up cups, eating, and playing with/watching other babies and kids.

I'm so tired I can't even sit up and pull everything off the shelf.

Dislikes: Well, anesthesia, for one. WORST THING EVER. The word "no" is also pretty terrible. 

A Nuggie's gotta do what a Nuggie's gotta do, Mom. Don't try to change me.

Diaper changes and nose wiping are of the devil. She doesn't even fall for the ol' "I'm gonna steal your boogies!!!" game. Having her hands and faced wiped after a meal is similarly terrible.

There's not much else that she doesn't like, but I gotta hand it to her- she takes her short list of dislikes and REALLY COMMITS. She knows how to bring the dramatics when she is faced with something she deems awful.

Well, obviously you should just keep doing the things I like. Then I'll never have to get upset. Silly Mommy...one day you'll learn!

 Special Skills: She took her first step the day after she turned eleven months old and was a full-time walker by about a week later. She didn't waste any time. She still wobbles and falls down a lot, but she hops right back up without missing a beat. Her new skills have led her to lots of bumps and bruises over the last month, as she crashes into (and gets into) pretty much everything...hence the fabulous little bruise next to her mouth that is evident in all of her pictures from the last week. Wah. Although she is perfectly capable of walking, she still prefers for Mama and Daddy to carry her around in public, which is fine by me. I have enough trouble keeping up with her in our 1300 square foot house. I don't want to imagine how it would go at Target.

She doesn't say any meaningful words yet (except possibly Mama and Dada), but she's gotten pretty good at pointing emphatically (and making sound effects that convey how urgent the need is) at what she wants. A few times I've felt like we're REALLY winning at mother/daughterhood because she will be crying and clearly needing something that I can't discern, and I've asked her to point at what she wants (and I demonstrate pointing at a few things)...and she will!! And then I can get it (it's usually something super important, like a random shoe on a shelf. Or a piece of junk mail on the counter.) and she looks amazed when I hand it to her and then she's happy again. COMMUNICATION!! It's brilliant!!

My mommy understands me! For my next trick, I will learn to talk to dolphins.

 A year has come and gone more quickly than I'd ever imagined. I couldn't be prouder of this sweet little thing, and motherhood is every bit as amazing as I'd dreamed it would be. The nugget-shaped hole in my heart has been filled and I simply lack the words to describe what a blessing this child has been.

Happy first birthday, Camilla. I have no idea if you will ever read this, but I hope that if you do, the love and gratitude I have for you will come as no surprise. I hope that my words and my actions speak even louder and more convincingly than these words on a screen ever will.

Your life has only just begun, and I consider myself the luckiest person on earth that I get to experience it as your mama. You are a gift, a treasure, a tangible expression of God's love and redemption. You are loved more than you will ever know.

 Eleven Months

Ten Months

Nine Months
Eight Months

Seven Months

Six Months

Five Months

Four Months

Three Months

Two Months

One Month