Dear Quinn: One Year Post

(written end of June 2012)

Dear Quinn,

Today I was looking at pictures of you as a newbie.  A brand new baby girl in this big world of ours.  How did we all (daddy, you and me) make it this far so fast?  A whole year old! 

 

To watch you meeting this world as a fresh 6 pound 15 ounce being, full on screaming.  We should have known your sass and flare for drama from the start.

From watching you laze around as a baby to being able to support your own head early on.  From rolling over to rolling across the entire living room and almost out the front door, you little bowling ball you.  From sitting up on your own to crawling.  From walking to now climbing on everything.

We've watched your ever expanding palette grow.  These days your favorites are bananas and pears, hands down.  You will eat around other foods, just to get to these.  We stopped giving you formula right around a week before your first birthday.  The daycare had been giving you a mix of whole and formula to get you closer to your birthday and when they ran out, we stopped giving it to you as well.  Also, I think you enjoyed whole milk much more than formula because you started not drinking 100% formula at the end.  As in, one drink and the bottle would be on the ground.

You can now say, mom-mom, Dada (her favorite and most used word), uh-oh and hi.  You wave good bye and have even started waving hello.  I think we are on the verge of you saying night-night.  I'm sure in a few months from now you'll be still talking our ears off, only part of it will actually make sense.

You amaze us everyday.  Every.single.day.  You catch on to things so quickly that usually we don't have to show you again.  You know where your baby is at all times when we ask you for her, as well as your car.  You also know where your stool is (the one you use to get up on the couch on your own because you drew the short stick in the height game). 

Your favorite things are running around the house, climbing up and down steps, "helping" mommy with laundry, the dishwasher and watering flowers, riding and playing with your cars, the pool or rather climbing in and out of the pool, and getting into things you're not supposed to.

You hear the word NO on a regular basis.  You know what it means but you don't always abide by it.  It usually involves you getting into the TV stand, us telling you no and you going to get back in, in slow motion.

When we call your name your usually pretty quick to hear and follow our voices back to where we are.  You love to point and things and we love to tell you what they are. 

I love reading to you and love adding books to your collection.  You know when to sit on my lap.

You still love to snuggle.  Your always on the go but when it's snuggle time, it's snuggle time.  The best are when you climb into our laps, lay your head on our shoulders and hug us.   Yep, those are the best.

We miss having a baby but love watching you grow into a little girl.

We miss you being stationary but love that you can move to where you want to go.

We love your independence and your sassy personality.

We love that you are social but also shy.

We love your crazy, long, sometimes hard to brush, blonde hair.

We love your chubby cheeks and your big teefers.

We love your baby laugh and how hilarious you think things are.

We love how you brighten our day and always make us laugh.

You are our world little girl.  Don't ever forget that. 

One day I'm sure you'll say you hate us.  On those days, I will sit you down, force you to read this to prove to you, we're not the wicked parents you claim us to be.  Above everything, we love you to the moon and back.

Happy 1st Birthday Little Girl!  We can't wait to see what the next year holds!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

One Year Stats:

Height: 27.5 (25th percentile)

Weight: 19 pounds, 15 ounces (50th percentile)

Head: 93rd percentile.