Abby - 1 year update

Abby had her one year check up last week.  She weighed 20 lbs and 2 oz and was in the 32nd percentile for her weight.  She was 29.3 inches long and was in the 51st percentile for her height.  Her appointment was scheduled right during her morning nap so Abby wasn't overly friendly with our doctor or nurse, which made us all chuckle.  We're thankful for our growing, healthy baby girl.

Abby's Favorites at 1 year:
Food:  Bananas, yogurt, spaghetti, broccoli, rice cereal, apple sauce, etc.
Activities:  Climbing on the playroom chairs, pulling books off the book shelf, walking around with a baby doll, playing at their play kitchen, putting things in her mouth
Movie:  Baby Signing Time   (She lights up when we turn this on.)
Words she can say:  Dada, Mama, and Hey, but she says Dada the most.

Sleeping Habits at 1 year:
-She takes 2 naps a day.  Her morning nap is usually about an hour to an hour and a half. Her second nap is right after we pick up Emily from school and she usually sleeps about an hour and a half.
-I've started laying her down later for her morning nap because she had started fussing/playing for awhile before she would fall asleep in the morning.  It seems to be helping, but I can't push the nap back any more because of Hannah's school pick up so hopefully she'll go along with this schedule for awhile.
-She sleeps 11-12 hours at night and almost never wakes up in the middle of the night.
-She sleeps with "lovie" and when we are getting ready to lay her down each time we'll say "Where's Abby's lovie??" and we'll walk around the house looking for her lovie.  When we find her Abby's face lights up, she grabs her, snuggles her close and puts her head on my chest.  So precious.  
-She sleeps with a sound machine on in her room that sounds like rain.  We actually use a second sound machine as well just during nap times to help drown out her sisters.

Things I Treasure about our 1 year old:
-If you're holding her and ask her if she wants to get down she will usually dive her head into our chest, and tighten her grip on us with her arms and legs.  She absolutely understands what we're asking and that is her way of giving us her answer.
-She's doing better in the nursery at church these days.  She sometimes fusses for a few minutes, but they say she calms down quickly.
-I've put the playroom chairs in another room for awhile because I could  not get her to quit climbing on them, not just to sit, but to stand up in them.  She also likes to climb on the second story of the girls doll house....trust me when I tell you it's not stable even for a 20 lb-er.
-She knows how to shake her head "no."  Sometimes she does it at the "appropriate" time "do you want any more carrots, Abby?" And sometimes she'll just shake her head back and forth wildly no matter what we are saying to her.  It's super cute either way.
-She likes to pull books off the shelf and will bring me one to read but will only let me read a page (maybe) before she hops up to do something else.
-She's a really good eater.  She turned her nose up at chicken salad the other night (maybe the relish?), but for the most part she's eating well.
-She's NOT a good drinker right now.  I'm having so much trouble getting her to drink out of a sippy cup.  I've given her several options and we've been giving them to her for months and she just doesn't ever take more than a half a sip out of them.  Maybe. She's still getting bottles because she won't drink out of a sippy cup, but because she is still getting bottles she isn't thirsty enough to learn.  I know I'm just going to have to cut off the bottles very soon and I don't *think* she will let herself dehydrate before drinking out of a sippy cup but it makes for such a stressful couple of days...I'm dreading it.
-She looks happy and cute holding this cup but if you try to get her to drink out of it she quickly becomes annoyed.

-We had our friends the Livingstons over for dinner a couple weeks ago and they have a little boy, Hunter, who is a month older than Abs.  When they got to our house Hunter and Abby were sitting beside each other on the floor and Abby just leaned over to him and gave him a great big ole hug.  She kind of knocked him down in the process, but it was the cutest.
-She was a late teether, but they are coming in now (as of about 2 weeks ago).  One on the top and one on the bottom are both already halfway in and her other top/front tooth looks like it will break though any day.  Poor nugget.
-A couple days ago I was drying Claire's hair and Abby went and found their play hair dryer in the playroom and started walking around the living room drying her own hair (picture below).  I was so impressed she had the idea to find her own hair dryer and then knew what to do with it.  She's paying attention even more than we realize.

-She doesn't use the duck in the bath anymore.  She sometimes takes a bath with her sisters (H and C) and sometimes I'm bathing her a at a different time of day and she'll take a bath by herself.  Either way she really enjoys splashing in the water and playing with her bath toys.  She's a big fan of bathtime.  

-She loves music and has a cute little bounce that is her way of dancing.  

-She loves for us to pick her up and twirl her around.  

-She's not talking quite as much as her sisters were at this age, but it's probably because they talk so much she just listens to them.:)  

Here are a few pictures I got of her when we did her 12 month picture:

Gosh I love that sweet smile.  

I happened to catch her right as she was turning around to look at me after grabbing that sign.  She looks proud and little mischievous. 

Silly girl! 

I loved this one of her sitting on her knees.  

Abby, you are such a beautiful, precious gift to everyone who knows you.  We're thankful for your sweet smile, precious laugh, curious personality and strong opinions....you bring us great joy.  And I'm so thankful to God that I get to spend my days chasing you around! We love you!