How is it possible that in just one month my baby girl will be 1 year old?! Seriously, has it been a whole year already since she was born and totally changed our world?! What a year -- or 11 months so far -- it has been!
In the past month alone, Coralyn has grown so much and is able to do so much more. A month ago she started walking. Now she can go from sitting to standing without having to hold onto anything to get up and get on her way. She can carry things while she walks, usually a ball or a car or a book or a stuffed animal. And since she can get around so well, she is able to get into everything! One of her favorite things to do is go in her room and plop down by the little pails that I have her socks in and either dump the pail out all at once or pull one pair of socks out at a time until she has completely emptied the entire pail. Then she moves on to the next one. When both pails of socks are spread out on the floor around her, she gets up and walks over to her book shelf. She then proceeds to pull off every single book. She might sit down and "read" through one, but then she's on the move again. Usually she heads to the dresser where she opens the drawers and pulls out the onesies or pants or towels or diapers or PJs or whatever else she can find. After destroying her room, she comes out with a huge smile and something in each hand. About the only time Coralyn is still is when she is standing in front of the door, looking outside. She loves this! She would rather be outside, but if she can't do that, she at least likes to be able to see what is going on out there. When we do get to go outside, she loves to ride her tricycle that my mom got her. She may not be able to move the pedals, but she holds onto the handle bars and grins from ear to ear while we push her. If she wants off, she just "hops" right on down and will try to push the trike herself. Another favorite outside activity is blowing bubbles and trying to catch them. She lifts her little arms in the air and waves as the bubbles go by. She also loves to pick up balls and carry them wherever she may be going. Jumping on the trampoline is also quite fun. Coralyn is already a pretty good gymnastic, as she enjoys standing on her head while we hold her legs up and help her point those toes.
In addition to constantly moving, Coralyn is starting to "talk" more and more. She knows exactly what she wants and thinks we should be able to understand her. Unfortunately, I haven't quite mastered her language yet. She is learning some signs though and that is helpful! She has "milk" down really well, but hasn't figured out that she can use other signs when she wants something else. More than once, she has stood by the door and signed milk furiously. As soon as I opened the door, she was happy. We're working on "eat," "more," and "drink." She really needs to get that last one down, as she loves to drink from her sippy cup with a straw. She grabs onto the cups and just gulps down the water. At times she drinks so fast she about drowns herself with all the water. She says "Mama" really well too, but like the sign for "milk" she says "mama" for just about everything. I hear other sounds more and more when she is trying to "explain" what she wants, so hopefully we start understanding each other better soon! Coralyn is also good at waving bye-bye and hello. We went to the zoo this weekend, and every time she saw an animal that we pointed out she would lift up her arm and wave to the animal.
Some of her favorite toys are books, balls, and cars (not much of a doll girl). She loves paging through her books all by herself. When I sit down and read with her, she likes to turn the pages before me (sometimes before we are ready to move on though). She loves to play with balls too, now that she can pick them up and carry them all by herself we have started working on throwing and rolling them. The car is a favorite too. She takes the little cars we have and moves them back and forth on the coffee table. It's fun to "race" them with the daycare boys.
Coralyn's still a great eater too. She loves just about everything we give her, even asparagus! I don't know where all that food goes though, because she still weighs about 16 pounds and is wearing 3-6 month and some 6-9 month clothes!
It's so much fun to watch my little girl walk around, play, talk, and do so much more. I love being a mom! The best part is knowing that she loves me. I just about melt when she looks at me and smiles for no other reason than I am her mama. She is getting good at giving kisses and hugs too. I usually end up all wet after she kisses me, but the slobber is totally worth it! The past 11 months have been such a blessing. I am looking forward to celebrating her birthday in a month and hopefully many, many, many more in the years to come. Watching her grow up and become a godly woman is going to be an amazing journey!
