{alligator: JellyCat // top: Peek (old) // onesie: Carter’s // jeans: babyGap // moccasins: Freshly Picked // lovie: Angel Dear (duck)}
{And an outtake! That smile.}
{That’s a wrap! Of course Eloise wanted in on the photoshoot fun!}
{month twelve} Happy FIRST Birthday Daphne!
Walking. A walking machine. Daphne is all over the place now (and SO quickly) and hardly ever crawls anymore. She can get up to standing from her bottom which is a big game-changer at this stage. It means she doesn’t have to crawl over to anything, like a piece of furniture, to help her stand up. Holding something in her hands helps with her balance, and Daphne nearly always has something in her hands. She has been loving carrying books around recently. And she carries them open in her hands so it looks like she is reading and walking at the same time. We definitely have another bookworm on our hands, much to my delight!
We just introduced cow’s milk, rather than formula, yesterday. The timing worked out perfectly that we ran out of formula about half-way thru the day. So at lunch Daphne got a bottle of mixed formula and cow’s milk*, and had cow’s milk for dinner. I saved the last serving of formula for bedtime just in case she decided she hated milk. I suspect that the transition will go well since Daphne’s formula is cow milk based, and the biggest thing has been temperature. We have always warmed up Daphne’s milk bottles since she does not like them cold! It has got to be a change going from drinking something body temperature to something cold, so we will continue to warm up her milk for now.
*I am specifically calling out cow’s milk since we also drink milk alternatives, especially since I am lactose intolerant (at least sometimes) and dislike cow’s milk. Almond milk is our milk alternative for the most part but we also drink soy milk, hemp milk, and coconut milk.
Daphne has gotten really good at holding her own cup and is very insistent on holding her water bottle at mealtimes. For milk we are using this ThinkBaby sippy cup since it has a similar nipple to a bottle and a handle for easy holding. Daphne has finally learned to tip the cup up to drink which is so helpful! For water we use either this OXO straw cup (but in the short size), this Miracle 360 sippy cup, or a small plastic shotglass. We want Daphne to be able to use any type of cup or straw so we are having her practice with basically everything! We are just using all of Eloise’s old cups since pretty soon we will stop using plastic cups completely and offer milk in a real glass (we use these tempered glass cups with Eloise right now) and milk in a water bottle (we will probably go with a small Hydroflask bottle since the Camelbak ones aren’t my favorite).
Daphne LOVES to play peek-a-boo, turn book pages, pull Legos apart, chew on wooden food, open kitchen cabinets, and push the shopping cart around. She does so well playing on her own (independent play) which is something I worked hard on for both Eloise and Daphne. I think it’s important for kids to be able to play on their own, without adult intervention, from an early age, not only because it is self-serving to this mama (especially when I am trying to cook dinner) but helps kids imagine and create on their own! I do play and interact with the kids sometimes, but I don’t want them to feel like they can’t play if they don’t have someone telling them what to do.
Also, I have mentioned before but it’s worth noting because it is truly so funny, Daphne is OBSESSED with the Roomba! It has a specific noise/alarm that it makes when it is about to start (we have it set on a timer) and when she hears it, she rushes towards the living room and waits for Roomba to appear from under the table. And if she is close enough, she will get down on the floor and look under the table so she can see it. And then she claps and follows it all around (if I let her). And then she calls it “good girl” which is what she calls Sadie or any dog she sees. It is so sweet!
Sleep, knock on wood, has still been going well. Daphne has always been a good sleeper, from day one in the hospital (when she slept for 4 hours that first night)! Today, she goes to bed around 7:30 and will wake up in the morning between 7:30 and 7:45. I usually don’t go in her nursery until close to 8 am, so she hangs out in her crib and is pretty content with that. She is sometimes up in the night, but almost always if she can find her paci, she will go right back to sleep. And she is still napping twice per day, in the morning her nap is around an hour, sometimes 90 minutes, and her afternoon nap is about 90 minutes, though sometimes it is 2 hours. Her morning nap has gotten considerably shorter in the last month or so and I am hoping that once she drops that nap then her afternoon nap will get longer.
Daphne has the sweetest personality and is such a joy. Aaron and I were just reminiscing last night about what a good baby she was. I know we are bias and the newborn fogginess is real (do you even remember anything those first three months?) but truly Daphne was/is such an amazing baby. It is hard to believe she is already one year old and at the same time I honestly don’t remember life without her.
{weight} *updated* 24 pounds, 9 ounces!
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} three bottom middle teeth, top four teeth, one more on the bottom cutting in.
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} 9 months (pants) and 12 months, 12 to 18 months, 18 months (Carter’s), some 2T.
{diapers} size 4 {from the honest company}.
{feeding} 4 oz bottles at breakfast, lunchtime, after nap time, and at dinner. bedtime is around 7:30 with a 4 oz bottle.
{likes} watching and chasing the Roomba, eating, bath time with Eloise, watching big kids or babies, crawling, pulling up to her knees or feet, spinning on her back and belly, teething rings, chewing on anything, sitting in her highchair, banging on her tray, staring at her quilt (from Amanda), rattles, nursing, riding in the car (usually), her big sister Eloise, Sadie, singing, lights, paci, being bounced, being tickled, talking, her Lovie.
{dislikes} having a hat on in the car seat, seeing some type of food on a plate that she doesn’t have on her tray, having gas, lying down flat, being hungry or tired, not having a bottle immediately after seeing it, having her face or nose wiped off.
{nicknames} Daph, Daph Daph, Daphers, Bug, Snorty, Baby D, Daphne Doo, Daph-a-doo, Love, Lovebug.
We are having a birthday party at the house this weekend to celebrate with our family and friends, and I have had the best time planning it. I will be sure to post pictures on Instagram and will also share in a blog post in the coming weeks!
And here is Eloise’s twelve month update!
Happy Happy Birthday sweet Daphne girl!
M
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