Guest post by Mom:
No really. In some ways, Iva has felt like she has been one for MONTHS. In other ways, the year flew by in a blink and she should only be maybe nine months.
I can still remember how she smelled in that first week and how it felt to cuddle in her teeny tiny body. She wasn't even 12 hours old in that picture. She is of course much more fun now, but you can't help but miss the tiny sleepy baby.
And now she looks like this...
And she loves hats. Or scarves. Or towels. Whatever she can drape over her head or her neck or shoulders. It's adorable. And in fact this hat, sings, and she LOVES it. Her older cousin, Lexi, HATED it.
She thinks she is so big now. It helps a lot that she doesn't just walk. She RUNS and CLIMBS. (My poor girl has no hair visible in any of her pictures. I promise she does have a skiff of hair. It's mostly in the back, but it's blonde so she comes off as almost bic clean bald in photos!)
She likes babies. Fake or real. She has taken to walking around holding stuffed animals and giving them big loves.
And look, she has started pushing Cara around in the stroller instead. She loves to push anything around. Particularly her high chair or Grandma's scooter that she has for her broken foot.
She is constantly pulling things out of drawers or cabinets or shelves. It's kind of exhausting and she LOVES to throw food on the floor, but will only feed herself. Heaven help you if you try and get the food in her mouth.
But man is she FUN to be around. She gives the best hugs to everyone not just me. She gives pats and kind of kisses. It's so sweet. She leans out of our arms to give hugs and reaches for her sisters just for the purpose of giving them love. I think she has a knack for realizing someone wants a hug from her. I know that sounds silly, but she gave the sweetest hugs and pats to her cousin who really takes it seriously when she scorns him.
She went through this phase about two weeks ago where she YELLED for everything. We actually really pushed her signing because she would shriek to get food or drinks. It has really helped having her sign "eat" and "drink". She also knows how to sign "doggie" and even tries to say it. It's of course more like "da dee". It was of course too cute for words when she kept doing it at the Preslar guinea pigs. Speaking of speaking, she doesn't speak regularly but I know she can say "Momma" and "Daddy" and now "doggy", but she normally prefers to grunt. She has just barely started babbling to herself and around the house. I love those adorable nonsensical self conversations. In the last week, I think a light bulb went on in her mind about signs. She started doing "more" and loves to dance and try and sign with the beginning of the Signing Time movies.
She has two teeth and that's been it for two months or more. She can do a LOT with those two teeth though and there is almost no food that she can't bite.
Editor's note: We went for Iva's one year check up and she is 22 lbs and 29 inches. The 70% for weight and the 45% for height.
