Happy 1 year, Anna!

ONE YEAR!!! One year with our sweet Anna Caroline. As one might expect, this year has flown by. We enjoyed flipping back through pictures of the past year yesterday and were amazed (again) at how much a baby changes from birth to six months to one year. It is incredible! Throughout this year when I think of Anna, and particularly of her role in our family, I think the word delight describes her best. She bubbles over with joy when her eyes scrunch up and she smiles. But even more so, she brings so much delight to her siblings. It truly is contagious in the best way, and we are better for her presence.

Weight: 25.9lbs (98%)
Length: 30.5" (91%)
Head: 45.5cm (67%)

Diaper: size 5
Clothing: 18 month/2T

Likes: dancing with mom or dad, tickles, putting bath toys in her mouth, having her toy basket next to her, putting her bow in her mouth, bath time, peek-a-boo, sitting outside to play

Dislikes: being a little hungry, standing up

Eating: Anna's main diet has stayed essentially the same, though the variety of food she has tried has grown greatly. She is chewing very well now and will eat bits of food from dinner or while we are out and about. [think bits of pizza crusts and french fries] I can't tell yet if she is going to be a little picky or if some foods are just easier to eat, but she isn't always open minded about new things. This is especially true if they are finger foods. All things considered, she is a big girl and quite healthy! At this point we have dropped one of her nursing feedings and will gradually continue to wean her. She didn't like the sippy cup, but decided a bottle wasn't so bad (for the first time this year). The doctor said getting her on cows milk was more important than avoiding the bottle, so we go slowly and be thankful she doesn't seem to have any allergies.

Sleep: We are getting some sleep- praise the Lord! She still takes a dream feed sometime between 8:30pm and 10:00pm, but she hasn't been waking up at night and usually sleeps until 7:00am. We are so thankful and all better for it!

Routine: An ideal day. We have had swim lessons in the mornings the last three weeks, so her morning nap has been scarce and on-the-go.

7:00 First feeding of the day
9:00 Nap
11:00 Wake
1:00 Nap
3:00 Wake
7:00 Down for bed
9:00-10:00 Nurse and back to bed for the night <--- still doing a dream feed

Communication: This month she added blowing kisses to her bag of tricks :)

Well visit: We had a few things to discuss at this mornings well visit. (1) The bottle v. cup issue noted above. We'll stick with the bottle for now. (2) Her lack of putting weight on her legs. We are still on the waiting list for PT and our doctor said she is definitely behind. At this point they don't expect walking, but they do expect a child to be pulling up and cruising. Anna has only pulled up a couple of times and only to her knees. (3) Low hemoglobin. Her levels were low at her 9-month visit so they retested and the results were the same. (I was taking supplements, so they anticipated that her levels would rise.) More extensive blood work showed that it is at the very bottom of normal range, so we are adding a multivitamin for three months and then retesting.

Next appointment: Friday, September 29, 2017 10:15am

Cook ladies on Memorial Day

A happy baby is a baby whose siblings hopped out of the pool and joined her on the blanket

A very sweaty day at the zoo on mom's back

Happy baby was delighted by the swing.

A rare pic of the whole fam!
We were at the seminary to run some errands and go swimming.

Lydia: "Can you make Anna get down on her hands so we can go?"
[Lydia is holding the other end of the scarf which she tied around Anna's tummy.]
Little sister or personal pet?

Our last night with our eleven-month-old.

My sweet, beautiful baby!

Much to celebrate!