The actual day of Allie's birthday was spent alone with me, snowed in. Daddy was flying and work and school were cancelled due to the storm.
We actually had a great day together, with lots of play time inside and of course her checking out the white stuff outside! I did a photo shoot of Allie in her birthday outfit, complete with rubber duck props...
I made her some banana muffins and frosted one for her and put a candle in it while FaceTiming with my parents so they could participate in the action.
I gave Allie a toy fridge to play with, which was good timing since it was good to have a new toy while snowed in.
Allie started walking a couple weeks before turning one, and was only up to about 10-15 independent steps at a time by her actual birthday. She was still doing a combination of crawling and walking, and still is, but lately she's walking more than 50% of the time. She's a master at getting up and down stairs and loves climbing on to and off of her Pottery Barn chair all the time.
Also right around the one year mark, Allie finally started purposefully saying "mama" which was great. She still says "da" more than any other word, and uses this to refer to Clyde, ducks, Dad, and when pointing to things. We're pretty sure she's said Clyde a bunch of times, and also appears to be trying to say "quack quack quack" since we say that around her many duck toys and books all the time.
At one year, Allie weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs 4 oz., putting her in the 3-5th percentile for weight! I'd be nervous if her growth hadn't followed that pattern all along and if she wasn't a good eater, but she actually eats well and the pediatrician isn't worried, she's just small. Also, she isn't as small when compared to the world growth chart as much as the US one. For length, she's 28 inches, so 10-25th for height. Still rocking the big head at 46 cm (75th percentile). Allie is still in size 3 diapers, and mostly 12M clothes, but still fits snuggly into some of her 9M clothes too. I have recently become obsessed with shoes for Allie and can't stop buying them. She has three pairs of "real" shoes that are all size 3, but I have also bought ahead in sizes 4-5 if I find a good deal.
Allie is still pretty obsessed with ducks. My mom did a total rubber duck themed party for Allie, and it was a huge hit.
Like I said, she's a good eater most of the time, but definitely has her favorites. Those include rotisserie chicken, blueberries, bananas, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, peas, pears, baby oatmeal (i mix applesauce and nut butter in), grapes (a recent addition), Applegate farms deli turkey, toast, PB &J, Goldfish, and hummus on crackers (another new addition). She doesn't like watermelon, strawberries, green beans, broccoli, chicken nuggets, and some of the other random things we've tried feeding her. Pasta with sauce is hit or miss. Sometimes she loves it, sometimes not. We still have lots to explore, but I admit, I fall back on her favorites a lot because most of them are easy to get on the table in 5 minutes, which is essential when we walk in the door on a weeknight. She's also drinking a combination of milks- almond, coconut, soy, and hemp, and also some Pediasure. She also gets one bottle of breast milk a day- usually about 4oz (yes, I am still pumping at work). Our pediatrician told us to aim for 16oz a day total of some kind of milk.
This stage is kind of neat because she's starting to seem like a big girl, but at the same time the baby part of her is still recognizable. I am still breastfeeding twice a day, in the morning and at night, and I love those moments of her snuggled against me when I still feel like she's a little baby. But it's definitely fun to see her walking everywhere and exploring like a big girl too. It's been a whirlwind year! I can't even tell you how much I love this girl...
