Our One -Year Old!

We have a one-year old in the house! Life with a toddler has commenced! We can't believe she's a year, but Laurel is making it seem a lot more real with all the new things that she's doing! I feel like it's been a whirlwind few days! Here is Laurel's 12-month update!

We went to the pediatrician today for her check-up and immunizations. She wasn't crazy about the shots, but she loved being able to play with the bandaids. After the finger prick to check her iron levels, she stopped crying immediately once the bandaid was on! That band-aid kept Laurel entertained for awhile!

Here are Laurel's stats:
Height: 29 inches, 50th percentile
Weight: 21 lbs, 1 oz, 50th percentile
Head Circumference: 44 7/8 inches (our nurse was very exact :) ), between 25th and 50th percentiles

Activity
Laurel is starting to walk! Laurel took two or three steps Wednesday and did about the same on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Laurel took 4 or 5 steps and I was told she took a few in the nursery. This afternoon, Laurel took 7 steps, then 8 steps, then 14 steps, and then 20!! I couldn't believe it! Laurel has been initiating taking steps a lot more. I feel like she just decided she wanted to do it because she wasn't always interested when we tried to get her to do it.
-Laurel has been into books a lot more, especially ones with animals in them
-Laurel is starting to put things in baskets and containers a lot more
-Laurel can do her stacking rings, but I have to give her the rings one at a time if I want her to do it in order. A lot of the times, she just puts one or two on and then takes then off and repeats that a few times
-Likes chasing Daddy and having Daddy chase her


Sleeping
-Laurel sleeps from about 7:45 pm to somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30am
-She is still staking two naps
-She sleeps with a burp cloth, a doll, and a little stuffed horse in her crib

Eating
-Laurel just started drinking whole milk and is doing well with it.
-We were down to three bottles and then we went cold turkey on getting rid of two of them, so she just has a bottle before bed. Once we're getting the hang of this new routine, we're going to work on getting Laurel off the bedtime bottle.
-She is eating lots of table food now and is loving it! She had her first taste of sweets on her birthday with her birthday cake and she had ice cream yesterday! Her favorites are cheese, yogurt, fruit, and mixed veggies.

Communication
-Laurel says and understands dada, but she hasn't called Peter that yet. She repeats it if Peter says it to her first, but she hasn't said it unprompted.
-We can tell Laurel understands a lot--especially the word "no"

Other
-Laurel now has TWO teeth! She got her first tooth almost a month ago and she got her second tooth about a week ago. They are the top side teeth (the incisors maybe?)
-Laurel likes getting her teeth brushed
-Laurel LOVES baths and gets so excited about them. She moves all around in the bath tub so she keeps me on my toes!
-She LOVES dogs! She gets so excited over dogs or the animals on her praise baby dvds.
-She likes Elmo! she doesn't watch Sesame Street, but she loves the Elmo dolls that we see in Walmart and Target
-She's sitting still longer for her Praise Baby Videos
-We just turned Laurel's car seat around and she is LOVING it! She always gives us a big smile when we turn around!
-She claps, but not always on command.

This is a long list, but it's so that we can have a record of what Laurel is like right now! Oh how we love our girl!