Our fun little 12 month old...

... likes to sit or stand on the fireplace

... has to walk around holding something in her hand, just like crawling.

... has got a mind of her own - wants to go this direction, or play with this exact toy, or hold this exact finger.

...took approximately 3 or 4 steps a few different times on January 4th all by herself, but has not attempted that feat again. She will only walk with the aid of a hand, a walker, a wall, a couch, a chair, a table, etc. I really think she could do it again but she doesn't have the self confidence for it yet.

... likes to shake us... seriously, finds it's hilarious! well, she likes to shake anything - her cradle and us included.

... is now fully on sippy cups and off bottles, and fully on milk and off formula!

... liked her walker, but now prefers to walk with someone, even though she walks much better with the walker.

...she's actually maneuvering her walker much better, moving it backwards and turning it so it goes in the direction she wants it to go.

... can really shake her booty!

... likes to take things out of one container and put them back into another

... is finding out about gravity - both by dropping objects and falling... a lot.

... can and does eat just about anything you put in front of her. If she doesn't like something she chews it up then spits it out.

... can be obsessed with cups that have straws in them... she just wants to play with the straw....forever!

... must dance when music comes on. She can't help it, the music moves her.

... is starting to give us kisses.

...attempts to put daddy's hat back on his head after taking it off

... if you say "Kayla, how big are you?" she will raise at least one hand over her had and we say "so big!" too cute! Also, one of her books says "raise your hands" and she does! Shes' so smart!

...has a new relationship with books - instead of just eating them, she likes to turn the pages and really enjoys being read to. She'll also bring you books to read now, though she doesn't always give you time to read them before turning the page or bringing you a whole new book. :)

...could become the Chick Fil A greeter - earlier this week she (really we) walked around the whole place seeing everyone, stopping at most tables to let them ohhh and ahhh over her.

...loves her magnets - mainly to eat and chew on not to actually use

...yells to tell you something - grunting could mean "I want more" or "stop that" or "you're not doing it right" or "I want to walk" or "I'm hungry" or any number of things. Our guess is as good as yours. Should really have tried the whole baby sign language thing. Probably still good... just takes patience.

...really knows her bed time routine. She's probably known it for a while now, since I finally got one established... don't ask me when that happened but it took me some time to figure it out.

... will help me get her dressed/undressed by putting her arms where they are supposed to go or pulling them out of the sleeves of shirts. Soooo helpful!

... knows that turning off our house alarm means she probably gets to go outside... which she loves!

... prefers to walk down the stairs, holding my hands of course, as opposed to scooting down them.

...uses a regular little girl toothbrush, bought by daddy one day at Target when he was tired of getting this finger bitten

...has 8 whole teeth! Eight!

... weighs 23.5 lbs and is 29.5 inches tall. When she was born she was 8 lbs 2 oz and only 20 inches tall, so in her short little 365 days on Earth she's almost tripled her weight and grown by 50%. Good thing that slows down at some point.

... likes to play peek a boo with her reflection in the oven door

... is now officially old enough to sit forward facing in the car seat!  Apparently she's a big fan as am I since now I can see her again!

...doesn't like getting her nails clipped, so mommy has to turn on baby programming on the TV so she watches that while getting her nails done. It's the pretty much the only time mommy puts on tv just for her.

... wears mostly 12 month clothes, though some are pretty snug and short... she could probably wear 18 month things right now as well, if she had many!

...still hasn't had many sweets, just the cupcake at her almost 1 birthday party and some cinnamon crunchies as snacks... and whip cream if you count it because they put it on her pancakes at IHOP the other day but really I think she just played with that. So far so good on keeping the sweets to a minimum... doesn't mean her actual food is completely healthy what with her weekly intake of pizza, but it's something.

... is not shy around strangers generally. If a co-worker or friend picks her up she doesn't mind. Sometimes she gets funky and only wants to be with mom, but she warms up pretty quickly generally.

...is so much fun to watch as she grows up into a little girl. Her personality is becoming more and more evident, such a fun loving girl who loves to smile and laugh, incredibly strong willed and independent, and appears fascinated in learning new skills (but that could probably be said about most 1 year olds since so many things are new!)

I will do another post about our first year as a family of three and/or on her turning one but I couldn't not do her monthly report.