Twelve to One

This is the last of my monthly updates for our little miss Afton. I will still update every few months to try and keep up with her changes.

At 12 months Afton:

-Is walking while holding our hands. She occasionally walks around furniture or while holding one hand but she can't go as fast that way and she likes to cruise! My sister, Amy, gave us Colin's old fire truck and she does pretty well with that. She does better when Pete is around; if I try to make her do it she will want to hold one hand and put the other on the fire truck. Michelle bought her some rightly sized shoes for her birthday and I think those have helped with her confidence a ton. (Those cute MaryJane black ones we have were actually too big! I didn't realize it. Whoops).

-Repeats a lot and has said quite a few things on her own. Mostly "da" or "dada." She will say it whenever she hears him in the other room or when he comes into the room she is in. No fair. But totally cute. She signs milk all the time which just breaks my heart since I have been trying to wean her, but she has been pretty willing to give up nursing.

-She also says "da" when she sees a dog and makes a little barking noise. Michelle bought her a little "lulu" dog to match the Sundwall's dog Lulu. She loves the little thing!

-Has gotten really good at pointing to what she wants and shaking her head "no" when she doesn't want something. It helps in being able to communicate quite a bit.

-Sings. Sometimes when there is music on for a bit and then I turn it off she will hum/sing. Also, I sing to her a lot while I hold her by her bed getting ready to put her down; sometimes if I am quiet she will do a little singing.

-Picks up anything to use it as a phone. When she hears a phone ring or sees someone on the phone she pretends she is on the phone too. She did this for the first time in Relief Society when we were visiting at an Alpine ward. Some of the ladies watching her thought it was so funny and ever since she has decided that is the funnest thing in the world. She also is figuring out uses for so many other objects (like hair clips and combs for her hair, cups for drinking, pens for writing, etc.)

That bag of steamed cauliflower kept her busy for a good 30 min at the office

-Likes to feed herself. She has been finger feeding herself for months now and does for most meals. However, for 1 or 2 meals a day I try to feed her yogurt or applesauce. Not every time but most times she will let me feed her for a while and then about halfway through she will refuse to eat until I hand her the spoon. She hands it right back to be filled back up but then flings a lot of the spoon's contents in the process of getting the spoon away from me. I have learned to hand it to her willingly but she still feels the need to yank it out of my hands, which makes for a messy situation. I have learned to only feed her those messy things when I will be chaining her into a new outfit soon anyway (like at the beginning or end of the day).

-At the doctor's office she weighed 18.5 pounds and was 28.5 inches long. She is wearing 9-12 month clothing now as I am slowly transitioning all of her 6 month clothing out.

-Also at the doctor's office, we were in the jungle room where there are paintings of jungle animals all over. She was pointing to them so I started saying "what does a monkey say?" Then I would make the sound and she would repeat--just like we have done millions of times with her Noah's Ark book. For some reason this time she really took to the elephant. And now any time we ask her "what does ____ say?" she makes the elephant sound (spitting her tongue out). At the office though she also did a lion, which is new, by whispering a little "roar". It's the best. She did it for a couple days after but then after getting so many laughs at the elephant she has decided to stick with that for most animal sounds.

-Has developed a high pitched throaty scream that is surely ruining her vocal cords as well as my eardrums. She does it both when she is crying as well as when she just wants something. I have been taken aback these last couple weeks at how whiney she is! I think we are just entering that phase of her wanting specific things and not being able to communicate them or do them on her own. We are working on pointing at things more specifically and trying to sign. Hopefully it will motivate her to communicate better instead of just scream and give mom a headache :). Any suggestions on how to help during this phase are appreciated!

-Is happy around bigger kids, meaning kids older than her. Some of her happiest times are when I am willing to walk her around while big kids are around (at stores, at Grandma & Grandpa Millar's when cousins are over, etc.) Luckily, the weather is getting nicer so getting her out of the house and finding other kids to interact with isn't too hard.

Getting to play on cousin Brigham's car is just too exciting!

-While Afton is much more restless and into things, she is also so interactive and fun. She gives loves (hugs, kisses, cuddles) to her mom very freely and will still smile and make friends with anyone. The other day I was holding her and stood us in front of the mirror together. She pressed her cheek up against mine and smiled like it was family photo time. I wish I could have caught in on camera! I laughed at her cheesiness and just couldn't help but squeeze that silly little girl. It is so fun to see her "get" life more and more.

At Mimi's birthday party Afton helped herself to some frosting as I was cutting the cake a bit too close to Afton's reach. She was happy as a clam about that little fact.