Cate - 12 Months

Boy, these little photo shoots have gotten challenging!  Little Miss Cate is now 12 months old!  She has pretty much skipped walking and gone straight to running.  She is almost constantly on the move.  About the only time she sits still for long is when she is eating or snuggling one of her babies.    I tried to use a baby to convince her to look at the camera.  It worked....sort of.  The baby in the these pictures is her favorite. I love that she loves this one because it's the one Cooper picked out for her right after she was born.  He was so proud when he brought it home from Target and laid it down next to here.  She wasn't much bigger than the doll at the time, but now look at her!

"I need that baby."

Snuggles

There's the money shot!

 With all the running, and climbing (on and off the couch mostly), and dancing she does now, my little chubby bunny is slimming down.  She still has those epic thigh rolls, but her arms and torso have gotten very trim.  Her feet, however, are as chubby as ever.  We are finding it a bit difficult to find shoes that will fit her.  Tall, chubby feet don't tend to fit well into most baby shoes.  We have resorted to her pink chucks (which are adorable but take forever to get on) or buying shoes a size bigger than what she really needs.  She now has two pairs of size 5 sandals that do the trick, but they look a little weird with an extra 1/2 inch at the toe.  

Again, Mommy was holding the baby.

Oh, and did I mention that she wants to wear shoes all. the. time?  Well she does.  Her aunt brought over and bag full of shoes that her girls have out grown.   Cate was in heaven!  She opened up the bag and pulled out random shoes and kept trying to put them on.  The floor of her closet and her bedroom was covered in shoes for a week until finally I put the bag on a higher shelf.  And then she found the basket with all her socks.  Many days she will pick out socks (might be hers, might be some of her brother's from his room) and take them to Nana to get help putting them on.  Then she chooses her shoes for the day and tries to put those on.  If it's this bad at a year, what's she going to be like at 16?  

She only gets in her bed to sleep.  She
thought I was trying to make her
go night-night.

 Some of Cate's favorite things this last month have been swinging, makeup and Mommy.  Cate isn't too fond of the bucket swing we used when Cooper was younger.  We tried it a few times all ending in tears.  Our sweet neighbors loaned us their daughter's baby swing.  Little did we know we were creating a monster!  The girl loves to swing now!  If I'm holding and walk by the back door she reached over and tries to open it.  If we tell her we can't go outside because it's dinner time, she cries like you just stole her baby.  The inverse is true as well - if she's grumpy, take her outside to swing.  Works every time.  I'm not sure what we'll do when it gets too cold to go outside.  Thankfully, it's Oklahoma so we won't have to worry about that for quite a while. Cate continues to nurse and shows no signs of giving it up anytime soon.  We'll just have to see where that goes.

Most mornings Cate is awake by 6, 6:30 if we're lucky.  I usually go in to nurse her and then she comes and sits on my lap while I put my makeup on.  She MUST have her own makeup brush to use.  She trades it in for a new one every few minutes, just like Mommy.  It's adorable and a little scary how she already watches and imitates so much of what she sees.  Note to self:  Don't dance in front of Cate.  She is already at a genetic disadvantage. There's no need to model bad moves only for her to copy them.

More and more words are coming out of this girls mouth and a few out of her hands.  The latest phrase is "Wasat?"  She points to everything and asks, "Wasat?"  We are asked that questions at least 50 times a day.  And every time we are happy to answer our sweet little sponge.  She has learned to sign "please". She even signed "more" followed by "please" a few days ago.  Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

Cate still loves her brother and thinks he is the funniest person in all of humanity.  She has lots of sweet tickle spots that Mommy and Daddy resort to to get a good laugh.  Her laugh has changed from a tiny giggle to a deep chuckle when she really gets going.  If something is really funny she'll throw a snort in there.  Is it bad that hope the snort sticks around.  It will be useful in keeping the boys away - right?

For the majority of the month, she had a rough time sleeping.  Lots of trouble getting to sleep, multiple nighttime wake ups.  But then about a week before her birthday, very much like her brother, she started sleeping through the night.  Funny how those things just happen in their own time.  We haven't done anything differently; she's just ready.....finally.

 I found it strangely poignant how she reacted to our final monthly photo shoot.  After wrestling with her to stay in the chair, not erase the chalkboard, look at the camera, smile....  As soon as we were officially done, she dropped the chalkboard, turned around, and walked out.  It was oddly reminiscent of "drops mic, walks off stage" since there was a bit of attitude with the gesture. I just sat in her room a bit teary eyed for a moment as the weight of it all sunk in.  My baby daughter is a year old.  We conquered sleepless nights, tongue ties, teething.  She's walking and talking and becoming more independent everyday.  While I'm a bit exhausted by the "baby phase", but I'm not sure I'm ready for what's next. But, ready or not......