"So, tell me...what is life like with a one-year-old?"

The is our how pediatrician starts off our group appointments. This is a great set-up, by the way. We meet with 3 other couples and their babies, talk about what the current way of life is, and our pedi doesn't have to repeat herself 4 or 5 different times. We love our pedi. Every single thing she said would happen did happen and every time we have followed her advice we we thankful to have heard it. In this town, when you say, "Jane Anderson is our pediatrician" people stop arguing with you about whatever it is that they think you should be doing differently.

So what is life like? Here are the current stats:

Age: 1 year and 11 days
Weight: 25 lbs 13 oz. and 31.5 inches (off the growth charts!)
Size (diapers, onesies, etc.): Size 3-4 diapers and 18 month old clothes
Eyes: Green/gray with an inner rim of brown like Tim's eyes have
Hair: Houston, we have curls!
Sleeping: Fewer, shorter naps. Still STTN, but periodically wakes and needs to be soothed back to sleep.
Milestones: First steps last week!
Words/sounds: Babble, babble, babble
What we are looking forward to: Walking, talking, tantrums :(


She eats anything we eat including chevre on water crackers, ethiopian, bagel w/ lox... LOVES cheerios, graham crackers, strawberry yogurt, avocado, strawberries.
We say things like "You're OK" when she falls over, which is often.
We listen to silly songs, exaggerate our facial expressions, get way too excited over little things like clapping our hands and bath time and any time she isn't grabbing or smacking a cat.






The best part? An excuse to include all things Jim Henson. Had science not worked out for me, I might have gone to be a puppeteer. Because, seriously? It is not possible to feel sad when the Muppets are on. It's like trying to not smile when you are skipping. Can't do it.

Here's a classic to give you an idea. I love the part about the bunnies. One day they were in their mom and the next day they weren't. Smooth, Sesame Street!








We are apparently headed for the "terrible twos". Ada is about the easiest baby on the planet so even the slightest outburst from her gives us reason to pause. Tantrums? Dude. I don't know 'bout all that. So I picked up a copy of The Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp. Dr. Anderson doesn't agree with all of it - we'll ask her about that at the next visit. For now, I figure the first book worked well for us and was accessible - a critical point given that I'm lucky if I get to read more that half a sentence of anything at a time. I've been 'reading' the same magazine for over a month and I'm still only about10 pages in. Sad - those first pages are all adverts!


Meanwhile, I'll hang on to these moments with my angelic little love bug. Sometimes after she falls to sleep I'll linger a while longer than I probably should in the rocker. I just want to stare and marvel. Sometimes I cry a little bit at just how wonderful she is. My very own heart.



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On an entirely different note:
Someone asked me what I meant when I referred to Ada has having "banana slug boogers". You know, the ones that you start to pull out of their noses and then more comes out and behind that is even more booger until finally you have this blob of congealed snot that is almost as big as your babies head?
Behold, a banana slug. Found this one on our walk this morning. For reference, I wear a size 9 shoe.