Parker - 1 Year Old

The big day finally arrived and we have ourselves a 1 year-old.  Parker's birthday was on a Wednesday so we started the celebrating by brining in some donut holes for her teachers & classmates to share.  The women working behind the counter actually sang Happy Birthday to Parker when we were paying!  Parker did not know what to think about that.  Here are some pictures of her at school that day.

That night we got take out and Papa G came over to have dinner with us.  Then Parker got to eat her first cupcake, delish!

Since our 11 month update, the biggest change has been the walking.  Parker is officially a walker and no longer crawls anywhere.  It makes her so happy to walk around; sometimes she will just walk in circles through our living room, dining room, etc.  Her speech is sounding more and more like real words.  She says Ma Ma, Da Da, and Uh Oh all the time.  She tries to say dog and sometimes Otie.  Parker loves to wave and now shows this skill off to strangers all the time.  She also knows how to blow kisses (complete with "Mwah" sound) and uses sign language for "more please" when eating her meals.  Here is a video demonstrating these skills with her cousins:

At Parker's 12 month check up, she weighed 22 lb 15 oz (75%) and was 31 inches long (90%).  She was right on target with all of the milestones they asked about.  Parker still loves to eat and has taken to standing next to her highchair when she is ready for a meal.  We started mixing whole milk in her formula half way through the month and by her birthday we were completely done with the formula.  In effort to curtail the constipation problem that has been nagging her for months, we don't give her too much milk; just a cup with her afternoon snack/after naptime and a cup before bedtime.  Parker does loves to drink water, so we let her drink that all day long.

Every day with this little girl just gets to be more and more fun.  She's a sweetheart, likes to give (open-mouth) kisses to us and her dolls and stuffed animals, but she also a fiesty one and will throw a mini-tantrum sometimes when told no. 

Here are some other photos from the month, including first trip to the zoo and many pictures from her teachers at school.