13 months old

I decided to keep the monthly posts and pictures going until Aubrey turns 2 because it helps me remember what she did when and I like seeing the progression over time. The past month has been pretty rough, with everyone in the family being sick and Aubrey's teething, but we still managed to have some good things happen, too. Soooo...

Milestones:
*Completely dropped all bottles...which is still not going well. She still refuses to drink milk from her sippy, but loves water and apple juice
*She is starting to take sips from a cup with no lid as long as I hold it and make sure she doesn't get much
*Moved up to the toddler 1 room at daycare. The transition was rough at first, especially with naps, but it is getting better
*Dropped to 1 nap a day
*She is working on her balance and walking with her walker
*She also loves to ride on her walker when I put the seat down
*Cutting 3 new teeth (her 2 upper first molars and a bottom cuspid).... which makes for REALLY fun times in our house right now
*She has started laughing when we laugh which is really cute to hear
*She is trying much harder to mimic us, so I guess I need to work on the less than lady-like language that slips out from time to time
*She has started wanting to sit on the couch with us, so I think we are going to buy her a toddler chair soon
*First time playing in the snow

Aubrey in the snow

We got another lovely snow storm last week so we decided to take Aubrey out to play on Saturday. She is not a huge fan of cold weather, but she had never really played in the snow so we told her it was time to play in the white stuff. Since it's only like this a few times a year, I didn't buy any snow gear for her. Luckily, my mom's coworker gave us a bunch of clothes, which included a snow suit. The suit was for an 18-month old, but who cares, it served its purpose. So we bundled Aubrey up, grabbed the sled and camera and out we went. Todd made a little trail in the backyard and pulled Aubrey on the sled. She looked pretty confused most of the time but didn't cry, so we considered it success. She did try to play with the snow a little, but she didn't seem to like it very much. We only played outside for about 12 minutes before her little cheeks were bright pink so we decided to go back inside. The snow was pretty while it lasted, but I think we are over snow for this year. Hopefully next year she can enjoy playing in the snow when she can walk and play more.

Aubrey in the snow

Todd pulling Aubrey on the sled

1st birthday party

There is a reason I am sad that Aubrey's birthday is in January and that is that there will always be the potential for bad weather. Mother Nature decided to show us that that potential by giving us a lovely snow storm that started the day before Aubrey's scheduled party. I did the no snow dance and made lots of prayers, but alas, none of them worked and the snow came anyway. We decided on Friday that the chance for snow was so great we would move the party to Sunday. Not a huge deal, but we knew that would limit some people being able to come, but we had to do it. We ended up getting about 4 inches of snow plus a nice layer of sleet/ice on top of it. Needless to say I was pretty upset by Saturday morning. Then, about 10:00 Saturday, the manager from Chick-Fil-A called me and canceled my party food order because the store was not opening that day. He said he could try to come in the next day and cook them, but there were no promises. Now, I was in real panic mode. We still planned for 20 people to be there and I had no idea what to do for food. Around lunch time, Todd, my mom, Aubrey, and I bundled up and threw the truck in 4-wheel drive and made the trip to Harris Teeter to pick up the cake. While we were there, we noticed a display of party foods in the frozen section that we guessed were being readied for Super Bowl parties. So, we gathered up a couple of boxes of frozen chicken nuggets, frozen pigs in a blanket, and a huge fruit tray and decided to cook the food ourselves. I called the manager at Chick-Fil-A back and told him thank you for his offer to come in and cook, but we would just take care of it own our own.

By mid-morning Sunday, the sun was shining and we noticed the snow was melting on our street so we started feeling a bit better about the party. Then, the emails and texts started coming in from people who couldn't make it. And my heart just sank. I was not mad at them because I didn't want anyone risking their life to make it to a party, but I was disappointed. We still decorated and made all the food and decided just to go with it. We ended up having 9 people make it out of the 40 invited, including 1 of my brave coworkers. We did have a nice time and the food turned out pretty good. We also watched the slideshow of pictures of Aubrey from the past year and it was so bittersweet to watch. The cake was fantastic and of course, Aubrey wanted nothing to do with smashing her big cupcake. She liked the cake once I started feeding her, but really never dug in. She started getting fussy around 2:30 and we ended up laying her down for her nap while everyone ate cake. I realized after the party, I never got my video camera out so I missed that opportunity as well, which made me even sadder. I know I should be grateful that we had sunshine and were able to have a party for her and I am. I am just sad that we didn't get to share it in the way we planned and hope that next year can be better.

In her party outfit

Her giant smash cupcake

After the party was over

1 year old!

It still seems unbelievable that I have a 1 year old. In reality, there is nothing different from January 25th to now except that number, but that number is a big deal. She had her 12-month check-up on her birthday and she continues on that 25th percentile curve in height (27.5 inches) and weight (19.3). Her noggin is still in the 75th percentile (46 cm). She was none to happy about her doctor poking and prodding her so by the time the nurse came for the shots, she was over it. Luckily, the nurse did all 4 shots in rapid fire, but Aubrey was pitiful. It was just as hard to watch her get these shots as her 2 month shots. We finally got her calmed down just in time to take her to the lab for blood work. To get her blood, they pricked her finger and squeezed 2 vials out of her finger. She was screaming and thrashing around so much the phlebotomist had to get another staff member to help her. Aubrey's screaming was great for making the blood flow fast but not so great for getting it to stop. She screamed for a good 3-4 minutes after they were done and no paci would help calm her down. She ended up getting blood on her onsie (which for future reference, I don't recommend putting your child in a white onsie to go to the doctor) and was just generally pissed off at us for an hour or so. She came home and took a nap and woke up back to her old happy self. While she slept, we put her birthday present together (all 38 screws by hand, thank you very much) and after her lunch she played like a champ. Unfortunately, we had to go to a visitation for my great uncle later that night, but we did eat some yummy Japanese food on the way there. After reading all of this, it doesn't sound like she had the greatest birthday and I am really glad she won't remember it. Hopefully, we can make up for it next year.

Milestones
***Attempting to drink cow's milk--still not going well, but we are making slow progress
***Dropped down to 3 bottles, working on weaning off
***Started eating real meals at day care
***Will now feed us some of her food if we open our mouth for her
***Started transitioning to the toddler room at day care
***She now says uh-oh, mama, and dada and makes a whole lot of other sounds
***She is pretty consistently signing the words eat and sleepy (even though I am not sure she is signing sleep on purpose)
***When she wants your attention, she will pull on on your leg and use her free hand to smack your leg until you acknowledge her
***Started actually petting the dogs instead of just grabbing their hair
***First New Year's Eve (which she slept through)
***She can now walk quite a few steps when holding someone's hand

***Still wears mostly 6-12 month and a few 12 month size clothes
Eating her birthday cupcake

Playing with her birthday present