The weeks before Allie turned one, she became more and more vocal. We can tell she's really trying to communicate with us and every now and then it sounds like she's saying 'Hempi' or 'Buddha'. She mastered 'uh-oh', 'mama' and 'dada' and calls most things 'ba-da'. She also learned how to clap and is totally done with bottles and sippy cups now.
Aside from the communication, everything else has been very steady. Allie still has the same bedtime routine and still wakes up at the same time. She's still taking 3 naps a day on the weekends and 2 naps a day at daycare (sometimes she catnaps on the way home) but at daycare in August, they're going to try to transition her to 1 nap a day. She hasn't started to stand or walk yet but she LOVES to climb everything. She can climb onto the small chairs that we have in her room and she likes to climb inside the cabinets. She loves to get inside the dogs kennels (gross, we know) and open and close the doors. She has recently started to hand us things and she's gotten really good at putting things back...like putting her blocks back inside her bucket and putting her books back on the shelf. Every morning when I wake her up, she hands me her Eeyore and Pooh and she thinks it's just the greatest thing ever. I'm hoping this means she'll be good at sharing, haha.
Her first reaction to her birthday presents: "Can I climb on this?"
Other things she's been loving lately are our phones, the remotes, the dog toys, and my old American Girl doll. We got her a water table for her birthday and she loves splashing around in that. I think she starting to really like being outside. She doesn't mind being in the grass anymore but she does still bear crawl.
A new baby started a daycare and Allie had a really hard time adjusting. She was incredibly needy at home and at daycare. Normally, I can sit on the floor while she plays, but that week, if I was sitting Allie was in my lap clinging to my neck. She cried more than normal and was just out of sorts. Thankfully, it did only last a week and now she's back to normal. As the baby gets older, I think it's getting easier on Allie. She's becoming more of a playmate than someone who steals the attention from Allie.
Allie has still been wearing a mix of 12-18 and 18-24 month clothes. She's still in size 3 diapers. She weighed 22.4 pounds at her checkup on her birthday. She was also anemic, so we have a follow up appointment in a few weeks to see if a few changes in her diet have helped the situation. We ran out of formula on her birthday and started her on organic whole milk. It's probably the thickest thing she's ever had to drink, so sometimes I think it's hard for her to finish all of it.
For Allie's birthday, we were able to spend a few days in Long Beach with Carson's parents. Allie enjoyed her first pool party at the hotel and we were able to take the ferry to Catalina Island for a day. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip and we were so thankful that Allie was able to spend her birthday with her grandparents.
In other news, the past couple weeks have been a whirlwind for all of us. Carson found out at the end of June that a position was open with his company in Houston. He has since applied, interviewed, and been offered said position so he will officially be starting on September 29!
