My Baby is 1!!!

Wow, what a year!!! Clare has changed so much, beyond the obvious ways. She started off as a super quiet, laid back baby who nursed about 23 hours a day, for months. She also slept 8-10 hours straight at night. Then the 4 month regression hit, a little early at 3.5 months, and my cool as a cucumber baby became kind of fussy and hard to manage, and woke to nurse a ton at night. Now at a year, she is still kind of .... tempermental :). Teething pain has surprised all of us, and she has 6 teeth that all came in over the course of about as many weeks. She is loud and proud, a little chatterbox, and likes to let you know what she's feeling. Clare is also such a funny little girl! She makes the best faces and cracks up at her sister, being tickled, and lots of other things.She is such an explorer and nothing slows her down. She climbs and goes down slides by herself (even big playground ones), and basically climbs anything she can scale! People keep telling me how tiny she is, which surprises me as she's always been around 65th percentile for height and weight, but I guess she has slimmed down a lot since her 9 month well check due to how insanely active she is! We go on the 16th, so I will find out stats. I've dealt with a bit of post partum depression, largely related to sleep, and that coupled with some crazy thyroid issues has made her first year harder for me than it would have otherwise been. It has also gone even faster than Felicity's first year did. But along the way we have had so many great snuggles because this girl is such a great eater! As brave as she is, she gets overwhelmed in crowds and new settings, and often we retreat to somewhere quiet and I nurse her and kiss her little hands. I have loved those little moments and they've kept me going through the chaos and struggles.

Height:

Weight:

Medical issues: none since the last update!

Sleep: Her sleep has gotten worse, so we're going to begin very slowly night weaning a la Jay Gordon's method. I'm going to choose 4 hours where she won't nurse and Steven will take over during that time, so I'll get a minimum of a 4 hour block of sleep. Then she can nurse/sleep with me. Her adjustment to the toddler bed for naps and the first part of the night was pretty easy, so I'm hoping this goes just as well!

Clothes/diaper size: Same as last month... 12 months clothes (thought I have her in some 18 but they're a bit too big), and size 4 diapers.

Likes: Eating EVERYthing she comes across, especially rocks and mulch at the park. She doesn't actually swallow it, so I don't stop her, much to the dismay of children and parents alike at playgrounds. Clare likes to be tickled, play peek a boo, look through books, nurse and cuddle, kick while nursing and general other gymnurstics, loves to put toys in and out of containers, and loves playground equipment.

Dislikes: Clare does not like having her diaper changed or clothes changed/put on. She is not a fan of swings (so opposite from her sister!), preferring to crawl all over the playground. She does not like bed or nap time, though thankfully is usually down within about 10 minutes.

Nicknames: Clare Bear, Sissy, Clara

Milestones: Clare took her first steps on February 23rd, and a week later was up to 10 steps at a time. Currently she can cross entire rooms and does about 50/50 with walking vs crawling. March 7th was when her climbing really took off. She began climbing any steps she could find, and especially loves climbing up on the couch from a foot stool. Today she figured out how to get off the couch by herself by sliding down on her belly, so maybe I'll have a few less heart attacks ;).

I don't want to forget this: Clare and Felicity have begun to play with each other in the back seat of the car and it is SO CUTE to watch and hear. Felicity will hold Clare's hands and they giggle, or they'll make faces or noises at each other. Felicity will also hold Clare's hands and walk her around the room. It's great practice for Clare and Felicity feels like such a big shot for helping. Clare sometimes tackles Felicity, and it is so much fun to watch her initiate play with her sister! I can't wait to see how much more this fun and wild personality of hers develops!!