I'm 1!!!

I've been fearing Allison's first birthday for quite awhile...  More than turning 30 even.  My little girl is officially no longer my little baby; she's a big girl!  But despite a rough birthday eve and a crabby and snotty birthday girl, we tried to have a fun day...  We visited with MoMo and PaPa in the morning and left from there to go to her 12 month doctor's appointment.  Which I had the time wrong for...  So we missed it by 90 minutes and had to reschedule for next week.  We got some help from the weather, so we were able to play outside (although she is not a big fan of grass) and attempt to grill for dinner (except we ran out of propane).  And then the big moment we have been waiting for...  cake!  We decided to go small and just give her a chocolate cupcake (with chocolate frosting).  I think it was a little too rich for her and she ended up crying about 5 minutes in (possibly from exhaustion).  We're hoping that Sunday will bring a happier baby and a yellow cupcake will be more to her liking.

Double Digits!

So, I've been slacking...  big surprise!  But Allison has been keeping me busy since she's learned to crawl!  The last 2 months have been amazing as she's learning to do new things everyday.  She can now crawl like a pro, pull up, fall down without "bonking," cruise (mostly to the right, but she's making progress with moving to the left), almost squat to pick up objects, feed herself table food without dropping most of it, answer to her name, understand the word "no" (which she does not like), wave "bye bye," give "high five," clap, and she's finally starting to sign!  We've seen one "milk," "more," and "all done."

It's really been great to be home while she's passing all these milestones and she's become quite the momma's girl.  Her personality is really showing and she is an intense little girl!  I'm not surprised, but it's takes me back when she gets all tense and let's out a big GRRRRR!  She also likes to thrash around in her high chair- not sure why.  But she's persistent and stubborn just like her parents and BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!  I miss the days when she used to snuggle with me in the recliner...  But she wants to explore and there's no stopping her!

Here are Allison's 10 and 11 month growth pictures.  I can't tell much of a difference, but I think she might be a little taller...  At 11 months, Allison weighs 18lbs 1oz.  Up a pound since her 9 month appointment.  I don't think she'll make the cut off to turn her carseat around by her birthday, but that's ok.  She's healthy and that's all we want!

Our beautiful baby girl!

On the move!

Just in time for Allison's 9 month birthday, she's finally making some forward progress.  It's really amazing how quickly she went from rocking on her hands and knees to being able to tackle long distances!  She's still moving kinda slow (which is fine by me), but is loving her new ability to explore her surroundings at her own pace.  I do have a video of her efforts but it's on the old camera, so you'll have to wait until I get the motivation to upload it to the pc...

But here is her 9 month pic next to her china doll.  It's hard to believe that she was once the same size as it!  She's also acquired another skill in the last couple days--biting.  She is finally cutting her first tooth.  She's been handling it pretty well, however, there have been a few whiny nights this week. 

Allison's stats:

17lbs 1oz (25th percentile)

27.5in (50th percentile)

Tall and skinny!  Maybe she'll be a supermodel and we will never have to worry about money again...  Either way, we are very blessed to have this amazing little girl in our lives!