Sarah is One Year Old!

I can't believe our little miss is one year old already.  The other day I referred to Joseph as "the toddler" as I sometimes do and it hit me that we now have two toddlers instead of a toddler and a baby.  And boy does she ever toddle.  A couple of days before she turned one, Sarah mastered walking to the point she could walk across a room without falling down (if she wanted to, of course), but still used crawling as her primary form of transportation.  A week or so later, she became a full time walker.  I started introducing Sarah to sippy cups when she was around 10 months old, but didn't force them.  A few weeks before she turned one, Sarah decided she was finished with both bottles and formula.  As in, we couldn't get her to take either after that.  It was a very sudden end that I'm not complaining about (thank goodness we were almost to the bottom of that container of formula).  She also weaned herself off of baby food before her first birthday eating only what we eat.  It's amazing how well she can chew stuff up (within reason) with only six teeth.

Sarah - 12 Months

 

I don't know what has gotten into Sarah lately, but she has been super happy, smiley, and lovey.  It's so great to see her sweet little personality.  Maybe it's because she can hear better (although she still failed part of her hearing test and will be going to Oklahoma City for some more advanced screenings soon (don't worry, when I called to schedule that appointment, they told me tubes can sometimes make children fail the part she failed this time)) or because she loves her newfound mobility, whatever it is, I'll take it. 

 

And she actually gives me hugs now (she's been giving them to Daddy for a few months) which melts my heart.  I might or might not have teared up the first time she reached up and hugged me back as I was hugging her before putting her in bed. 

 

Sarah also has the cutest little shy head turn/duck she does when she's getting attention.

 

She's still not saying many words, but Sarah is trying to communicate more.  The one word we always recognize is 'Buh-Luh'.  You are sure to find Bella somewhere in Sarah's line of vision if she says this.  Which makes me wonder how/why she says Bella's name but won't/can't say mama or dada.  

 

The lady at the health department (where they told me to do her hearing screenings) was getting on to me for not talking with and reading to Sarah more at her last appointment (have I mentioned she finally likes to sit on my lap and listen to books now that she has tubes?).  I politely told her that I do all of that and when she continued to get on to me about it I told her I have a degree in Early Childhood Education, trust me, I do that stuff.  Finally, when the appointment was about over (and I was tired of her making me feel like a bad mom), I told her I wish she could meet my two year old so she could see how extensive his vocabulary is and how well he communicates so she would understand I do talk and read with my kids. 

 

Sometimes I think Joseph's communication skills are part of Sarah's problem because he talks for her all the time even when I specifically ask him to let Sarah respond. 

 

The week before Sarah's birthday party, as I was working on decorations, I realized that I didn't have a single framed picture of Sarah up in our entire house.  I decided that needed to change and had a couple of her newborn and updated family pictures printed. 

Then, one day I looked in our backyard to notice awesome lighting by our pampas grass.  I quickly turned Elmo on for Joseph, changed Sarah into her birthday outfit, and stepped outside (leaving the door open in case Joseph needed something) to take some pictures.  I was thrilled with how they turned out. 

 

Oh, and remember how I mention that Sarah has been in a great mood lately?  It's a good thing because this has been brother's mood.  Yay for two year olds who get overly emotional about every little thing (like the fact that I was taking his picture in his pajamas).