Happy 1 Year, Nellie!!!!!!

12 Month Stats

Weight: 21lbs (approx.)

Length: 29.5in (approx.)

Eating: I haven't found anything that you don't like to eat and you love to try new foods.  I don't think there's been anything that I have put in front of you that you haven't finished.  You like to eat what you can pick up, not what you have to use a spoon or fork with, although you are getting a little bit better.  A few days ago I started adding small amounts of milk to your bottle so you will slowly be transitioning over to cow's milk. It will be nice not to have to buy formula anymore except I am super particular about the milk you drink so I'm still sort of a crazy person!  You are still drinking out of a bottle, although I plan on introducing sippy cups and straw cups soon.  

Bedtime: we are finally in our groove and you go down about 6:45pm every night and (*knock on wood*) have been sleeping until at least 6am; some morning I even have to wake you up at 6:20! wahoo!!!  So, we've pretty much corrected your ways just in time to go to Kansas next week and mess it up all over again :)

Naps: you are still a great napper and sleep about an hour and a half in the morning around 8am and then for about two hours in the afternoon around 1pm

Diapers: still cruisin along in size 3s, you're so skinny, I am not sure the 4s will stay on you

Clothes: you were in 12mo pants for about a week and then they were too short and I had to pull out all of the 18mo pants, which was a good thing because that's where all of the winter, warmer clothes were.  

Favorites: you love eating Roscoe's dog food and scavenging food off the floor.  We can find you by the doggy door or in the bathroom and as soon as you hear us coming you scurry away because you know you're about to get in trouble.  You love opening and closing doors and can do this for a good 10min before getting bored.

Development: you are jabbering more and more and have recently started saying "ooooo" when you're impressed and "byeeeeee" when someone is leaving.  You are climbing onto anything and everything and we really have to keep an eye on you.  You will put your hands up in the air when you want to be picked up and, if we ignore you, you grab ahold of our pants and start furiously shaking until you get your way. Yesterday you started giving kisses!

Our little love, Nellie,

Happy 1st birthday!!! How are you already one?!  I look at your all the time and think you can't possibly be one, that we must have counted wrong or had you on a different day, a couple of months from now. You have such an independent personality and love to do things your way.  You still are not happy when you aren't allowed to do what you want and have bitten your sister, me and Tori on more than one occasion.  However, it's so hard to get mad at you because once you're done you just start smiling and spitting and sometimes I can barely hold it together.

You are rough and tumble and I just know that you are going to be dad's tomboy and want to do all kinds of sports and crazy activities with him.  You're our little firecracker and our little lovebug all rolled up in one.

You are such a little monkey and now know how to climb up onto the couch, the stepstool in the bathroom and, most recently, the ladder on the swingset that leads up to the slide. We literally cannot take our eyes off of you! 

I am amazed at all of the stuff you can already do, that I suppose that Mila was already doing by now but, you're the baby so how are you already doing it?!  In addition to sitting at a big girl table, you can occasionally feed yourself and you can eat so many foods that I am sure you will choke on because you're too little, but you always end up surprising me. I think you will forever be a baby in my head (I am beginning to see how this second child thing works!).

You jibber jabber all over the place and recently started saying "bye;"  when you're not blabbering you're spitting and having no respect for authority.

Christmas is coming right up and I can't wait for your first REAL Christmas.  You won't leave the Christmas tree alone, but somehow it's remained standing.

You have so much fun with Tori and absolutely adore her.  We are so lucky to have her because she loves you just as much as we do, I think. She's always taking you fun places and I love that you have another girl with you to be friends and interact with, I think that's so important.

Mila is still your favorite person in life and you already look up to her. Now that you are interacting with and can relate to her you guys are the best of friends.  It absolutely melts my heart and also makes me feel like I am going to die of a love overload every time I see you together. You play with each other, dance around, chase each other around the house, fight, apparently bite (one, not both) and always love on one another.  When Mila gets mad at you she calls you, "Nell Bell Marie"!!!! I want to die laughing every single time; I tried telling her Bell isn't a real part of your name and that your middle name is Lyn, but she's not having it.

Yesterday your cousin, William Davis Brown, was born. I can't wait to see you all together.  We are so excited to have a boy in the family, and another baby!

Happy 1st bithday my little lovebug!  Thank you for an amazing year, please make time slow down, you're already growing up too fast!  We love you SO amazingly much.

Love,
Mommy

Happy 11 Months, Nellie!

11 Month Stats

Weight: 20.6lbs (approx.)

Length: 29in (approx.)

Eating: you love to eat and finish almost as much food as Mila does during her meals.  While formula is supposed to be your main source of nutrition at the moment, you would much prefer to eat and will try anything we give you.  You love pasta, watermelon, peas and rice; you can tolerate spicier foods than Mila likes and love to eat anything you can feed yourself.

Bedtime: ohhhhhhh Nell Bell. you have really put us through the ringer this month!  While you used to wake up around 6am every morning (who knew how great that was!), after we returned from Kansas (which we mistakenly timed perfected with daylight savings time) you started waking between 4 and 430am every day.  GAH! It. Is. Brtual.  Let's just hope this is a (really long) phase and we will be out of it soon.

Naps: contrary to your night sleeping, you have been great in your naps, usually napping anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours

Diapers: size 3s, although I just ordered you a pack of size 4s

Clothes: I recently had to get out your 12mo clothes since the 9mos were mainly summer clothes and it's gotten a little brisk (high 60s!) here in Southern California.  I found some of Mila's Christmas outfits and can't wait for you to try them on in just a couple of weeks.

Favorites: you love to shriek and welcome any moment to scream, whether it be inside or outside.  You wander around the house and know to look for me in the bathroom if you can't find me in the rest of the house.  You love to hold something when walking around, usually one of your or Roscoe's toys.  You wake up in the morning jumping in your bed and get so excited when we walk in the room to get you out.

Development: you are walking! Just one day after your 10 month birthday you took your first steps...and we haven't been able to stop you!  You have eight teeth now and  are getting much better at picking up your food and feeding yourself. In fact, currently you don't want us to feed you, you prefer to do it yourself.  We have been working on teaching you to use a soon and you have just recently started drinking out of a straw but still prefer your formula in bottles.

Dear Nellie,

How are you only one month away from being a year old?!  This year has flown by and it has been a whole lot of smiles, frustration, exhaustion, amazement and love. 

We got in a last minute trip to the pumpkin patch where you were too little to partake in any fun but you had a great time watching Mila enjoy the rides.

Halloween night we made sure that you napped late so you could stay up and hit the neighborhood with the family.  You rode in Mila's little pink car and had a BLAST.  I don't think you would've even cared if you could have eaten the candy because you were having so much fun cruising around.

You dressed up as a mummy, which we had gotten previous to you even walking, and it turned out to be the best costume every but you had just started walking and moved around always with your arms out! It was way too adorable.

Despite your waking up at the crack of dawn every morning, you are still a delight.  You spend the first 20min or say talking to yourself in bed and then, when you get impatient, you start screaming and jumping in your bed.  It's quite a treat to wake up to :)

You got your first haircut this month as I could no longer control the mop on your head.  

We were going for a stylish little bob but then you turned your head at the last minute and diagonal the bangs went.  

I totally think you rock it though.  Who's more adorable than you!!!

My heart is so full watching you grow in to such an independent little lady.  You prefer to feed yourself and refuse to eat if you're not in control.  You like to wander around the house and half the time I can't find you, although you do respond so well to your name and will come when called (you already have more tricks that Roscoe!).  

Somehow I am in the midst of planning your 1st birthday party, which is both a happy and sad thing.  We are so enamored with you my love and I can't wait to meet the rest of your personality and see the little person you develop into

Love you bunches.

Love, Mommy

Nellie's 1st Haircut

After letting Nellie's hair grow for almost 11 months I finally had enough of her bangs in her face and took her to get her haircut this weekend.  She was doing really good and her cut was super cute and just as the stylist was making the final cut in her bangs, Nellie moved her head and suddenly her bangs were diagonal. Gah!!!! So our only option was to make another cut, and there she moved again! The stylist tried to clean her up but the final result is a cute little bob with Dumb and Dumber bangs.  Hopefully this poor girl's hair grows fast!