1 year old!

Stats from our 12 month check-up

Height 29.5 inches (50%)

Weight 18 lbs 15.5 ounces (25%)

Head Circumference 48.5 cm (75%)

Ashlyn is tall and skinny with a big head...room for that big brain!  And those percentiles are on the scale used for full-term babies!  She is really catching up.  At first she was in the <4% category which is basically not even on the scale!  Woohoo...big girl!  Now for some other fun facts from our 1 year old.

Wears-12 month clothes and size 3-4 diapers (she can wear both, but the 3's are a little snug and the 4's are a little big).  She still has dainty feet and wears a size 1 or 2 shoe.

Eats-breakfast is usually oatmeal, fruit and yogurt washed down with a bottle.  She is now eating the school lunch which changes every day.  She does fairly well with it and if she doesn't eat what they are serving, they offer her baby food.  She has another bottle before her afternoon nap.  She has a snack after her nap and then dinner is bite sized pieces of table food.  She takes one more bottle before bed.  We are in the process of weaning from formula to whole milk and she seems to be liking it.  Once we get her on milk then we will start trying to wean the bottle.  Her doctor gave us until 15 months to get her completely off the bottle, which is a relief!  

Sleeps-12-13 hours at night. She usually goes to bed around 8 and wakes up between 8 and 9.  She still isn't the greatest napper and hasn't gotten into that "one long nap" stage I keep hearing about!  I partly blame her poor napping on our hectic schedule and her "don't want to miss a thing" personality.  The good news is that even without naps, she doesn't really get fussy.  I have been kind of worried about her not getting enough sleep, but her doctor reassured me that the normal range is anywhere from 11-15 hours a day and she is well within that range with her good night sleeping habits and her cat naps.  They are going to start transitioning her at school to get her ready to move up to the next classroom.  Part of that is napping on a cot.  I can't wait to hear how that goes!  I would love to be a fly on the wall when they lay her down on a cot on the floor and expect her to fall asleep.  I guess it will happen!

Medicine-theoretically we were supposed to be finished with the Propranolol taper by her 1st birthday.  She had a little re-growth of the hemangioma when we tapered down to 1 dose a day so we went back up to 2 times a day and are going to hang here for a while.  We met with the specialist and he agrees and has found this with other patients.  Hopefully in another 3 months we will be off it for good!  Her birthmark is looking great...even with the slight rebound growth we had.  She is also taking a probiotic daily for her urinary tract.  I will update on the urology procedures and appointments in another post, but all is looking good!  The probiotics will hopefully ward any bacteria that could cause another kidney infection.  

What's new this month-Ashlyn is crawling all over the place! And she is getting much faster.  She can pull up onto her knees easily, but still needs a little help to get standing.  She really isn't interested in standing much and I attribute that to her new found mobility with crawling.  She is no longer doing the Chinese splits to go from her tummy to sitting up.  She is so limber!  She babbles all of the time with her favorite words being Mama, Dada, and Dog (in no particular order ;).  She has figured out cabinets and drawers and loves to pull everything out in the kitchen.  She loves the dog's water and food bowls.  I started putting them up on the counter so she couldn't get to them, but decided I really don't want to have to do that forever so I have tried a little discipline saying "no" and redirecting.  I'm so tough :).  She has started to develop an opinion about things and her personality is really starting to come out.  She is pretty easy going, but occasionally will show signs of having a little temper, usually when she is getting tired.  She loves riding around in her new car.    She really does not like being strapped into her carseat.  And she is starting to make diaper changing a little more difficult.  She really dislikes having her nose suctioned and using saline.  We pick our battles!  She has also started making it a little more challenging to get her medicine down.  She still loves her dogs, baths, puffs, keys, phones, remotes, putting everything in her mouth and yogurt!  She has found her tongue and she is constantly sticking it out and licking her lips.  It is pretty cute.

We have absolutely loved every second of this first year and look forward to continuing to watch her grow!  Stay tuned for pics from her 12 month photo shoot.  They turned out SO cute!  Meanwhile, here are her monthly crib shots.  We love you Ashlyn Mae!