new walker

libby first started taking a few steps at a time on jan. 13th. she went 3-4 steps before dropping back down. a little over a week ago she started doing about 6-7 steps at a time. sunday she walked around the house A LOT. she still prefers crawling, since she's so fast that way, but she is walking around more and more. i love watching these first unsteady steps.

airport field trip

hannah's class has a few fun field trips planned this month. we went to the local airport yesterday. i love being with her class. all the kids are so cute and fun. first a man explained how the fuel up the planes. then they got to sit in one small two-passenger plane, and explore another slightly larger plane. they also got a lesson in how to land a plane.

sisterly love

my sweet girls have been doing a lot of hugging lately and to say it makes me so happy is an understatement. it makes my heart feel like it's going to explode into a million pieces, in a good way, if that were possible. and as libby gets older, they play better and better together. my biggest hope is that i can foster their relationship and have them grow up as best friends who know they can count on each other.

libby update

her favorite book is first 100 words, and she also loves an american doll magazine that we got in the mail the other day. she looooves baby dolls. in the 100 words book, she knows a lot of the words, but her favorite pictures are the one of the baby sleeping - she always says night night - and the one of the baby in the bath - she pretends to wash her hair. she'll bring me books to read and will sit in my lap and flip the pages and point. today we looked at a picture book that we hadn't looked at in a couple of months and i was surprised at how many of the objects she recognized this time that she didn't know last time around - shoes, sock, flower, strawberry, car, doll... her vocabulary is certainly growing fast.

she got another ear infection last week (in her left ear). she wasn't her playful self for a couple of days, but she's all better now thankfully. i took her to the doctor last thursday and friday for shots, and she started an antibiotic saturday. she is all better now and if she has anymore we'll have to seriously think about tubes.

she is MISCHIEVOUS. much more so than hannah was. libby tries to climb on EVERYthing, whereas hannah was always very cautious about things. hannah has a step stool in the bathroom, and the other day i found libby standing on the top step trying to reach things on the sink. scary! today we went to chick-fil-a and i took her in the play area after we finished lunch. instead of staying in the baby area she wanted to climb up the big slide. as soon as i would take her away, she would crawl right back over to it. needless to say we didn't stay in there long. here she is trying to climb onto the window ledge - really!? i've also seen on the baby monitor that she tries to climb out of her bed but thankfully her little legs aren't long enough.

she is still taking two naps a day, one around 9 and one around 2. i am still nursing her a few times a day before she goes to sleep each time. i was going to stop at one year but she has had colds consistently since november, and has been comfort nursing.

sometimes she will try to put a forbidden toy in her mouth, but she will first look at me to see my reaction. or she will try to do something she knows she shouldn't do and she'll look at me first with a big smile, just waiting. i wish i could really convey to you that spark in her eyes when she's breaking the rules. she is going to keep us on our feet.

she loves to walk around the house and look at all our pictures, and she likes for me to tell her who's in each picture.

she loves watching the tv if anything involving babies or animals is on.

she can point out her nose, eyes, hair, mouth, belly and legs, and will pretend to wash her hair when asked.

her favorite thing to eat is noodles of any kind and black beans. she could eat a whole can of black beans all by herself! she also loves most fruit. we had pineapple last night and watermelon this morning, and she really enjoyed herself with both of those.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*updating this post on sat., jan. 14th instead of making a new one*

yesterday libby started standing up in the middle of the floor without holding onto anything. she's not walking yet but she is standing up - isn't that the opposite of how it's supposed to happen?? she would stand up and i would clap for her and make a big deal out of it and she would dance and clap too. as the day went on, i would tell her to stand up and dance, and she would. she was soooo proud of herself. at one point, she did actually take a step. she's so funny, though, because if she wants to get to something she'll get back on her knees and crawl for it.

crazy girls

hannah has become increasingly into her wardrobe this year. i have lost complete control of putting together her outfits. it makes me sad sometimes because she has a ton of cute clothes that she just refuses to wear. she only wants to wear dresses and skirts, and passionately refuses to ever put on pants. most of the time i accept it and try to mostly let her put together her clothes. i try to gently lead her in a different direction if something is horribly clashing. the other day she came out of her room wearing this, complete with an inside-out and backward shirt.

libby's middle name is trouble. she is the funniest little thing. i've mentioned her climbing into the fireplace. her new thing is climbing into this small ottoman that we have in the living room. she takes the top of it off, climbs in and just sits there. the other day, she was standing at the dryer as she does sometimes when i'm unloading it. sometimes she will pull things out too, thinking that she's being a big help. i'd gotten something out and turned my back to fold it. when i turned back around, that stinker was INSIDE of the dryer. she looked so proud of herself. i guess i should have scolded her and gotten her right out but i thought i'd take a picture first because honestly... it was hilarious.

oh, and a walking update: libby has been standing on her own really well this past week. she gets sturdier every day, it seems. she took her first real step in the neighbor's back yard yesterday! i stood her there, and got her to step toward me. i am letting her take her time, though. i'm not ready for her to be such a big girl!

libby at 12 months

we took libby for her one-year checkup on nov. 22nd. she weighed 21 pounds and 13 ounces and was 30 inches long. she had a fever on this day, and the previous day, so she didn't get her shots. i think she just had a little cold.

at 12 months libby is a delight (but then, she has been a delight for months 1-11, as well). she knows what seems to me like tons of words. she knows: momma, daddy, hannah, drink, there, bye-bye, flower, tree, light, fan, and thanks to the recent holidays she's learned pumpkin, turkey, christmas tree, santa, star. i know there are others i'm leaving out... but she is a great communicator. she knows how to get her point across. the other day she pointed at the back door and waved her hand, obviously meaning she wanted to go outside. i took her out and she kicked her legs, so happy she got what she wanted.

she has recently gotten really steady on her feet - just in the past week, i would say. i will stand her up, and she will clap for herself. she'll take steps while trying to get around while holding onto the furniture. one of her favorite things to do is get the cushions off the couch so that she can climb up onto it and sit. she and hannah will sit on the couch like this together and watch sesame street or yo gabba gabba.

her favorite foods are grapes and corn on the cob, so i guess she likes a challenge. two foods that are kind of hard to eat if you are a baby with only 7 teeth. she also has a deep love and appreciation for pancakes, and will chow down on mornings that i make them. she also eats a lot of eggs, applesauce, pasta, peas and beans.

she is mischievous. one day last week i left her in the living room for 30 seconds while i went to grab a few things. when i came back she was IN the fireplace. our fireplace is empty, there are no logs or anything, but it is a little bit of a climb to get in there, and i just know she jumped at the chance when i left the room because she has been eyeing it for quite a while. when i came back in the room and saw her she jumped and looked at me like she knew she had been caught. she is funny like that. sometimes she will find a toy and if she's not sure she should be playing with it she'll look at me, and then reach out her hand to give it to me. there have been a couple of times that i've found something like a little barbie shoe of hannah's in her mouth. so as you can see, i have to be very vigilant with her!

she's still taking two naps a day, one around 9 and one around 2. she is sleeping through the night, from about 7 to 6:30.

this week she started to tickle us! she went up to tim yesterday, while he was sleeping on the couch, and got him right under his arms and said "tickle tickle tickle," like we do to her. if that wasn't the funniest, cutest thing i've ever seen...

i remember age 1 being so much fun with hannah, too. it's one of the most fun times, but with hannah i was so anxious to see what each stage would bring. with libby i just sit back and enjoy it and don't rush it at all. she is an amazing baby. i wish i could bottle up the joy that she gives me.

just look at this girl on the move, ready to get into everything!

libby's first birthday party

on libby's birthday, nov. 19th, we had a nice little party for her. the theme was one year in a flash, so it gave me an excuse to display lots of pictures from this special first year. here's the front of the invites i made:

we had the party in the morning, at 10, since that's when libby is the happiest. we had a brunch meal of mini quiche, pasta salad, and fruit kabobs with dip.

there were cupcakes for the kids and muffins for the adults

i made some photo confetti using one of the most exciting things i've purchased this year: a 2-inch circle punch.

and there was plenty of juice and coffee.

now finally, here is the birthday girl!

and a family picture...

to help hannah feel more included i told her she could invite a friend from school. of course i knew she would want to invite her very best friends, hope and nicole. she was THRILLED that they were there.

they played and played and ran around in the back yard.

libby ate cake.

she started with a gentle touch of the icing.

she tested it out while sister happily licked icing off the spatula.

but she decided pretty quickly that she was done. she didn't like the way the icing felt on her fingers.

she looooved when the big girls helped her open her presents.

it was a wonderful party, and we all had so much fun. it was the perfect celebration of her first year, if i do say so myself. i love this girl so much.