Libby at One Year

I'm back on the blog! I apologize for the long hiatus. We've been in Colorado for 2.5 weeks and were mostly "unplugged" during our stay there, which was honestly quite nice! I'll post the photos from our vacation soon. Now for a one-year update on our busy Libby Jane...

At her one-year appointment, Libby weighed in at 21 pounds (45th percentile) and measured 29 inches (40th percentile). Her weight was probably slightly lower than it should have been since she was suffering from a stomach bug that week, but clearly she's doing just fine in the growth department. She certainly likes to eat! Here are some additional highlights at the one-year (well, 13 months now) mark:

- Happy girl! For awhile it seemed you had to work to earn a smile from Libby, but in the past few months she's really opened up and smiles and laughs easily, even with strangers. She's quickly becoming just as silly as her sister and loves jumping on the bed, rolling around with Siena, and talking in her Darth Vader voice with Daddy. She's a strong-willed girl as well and will quickly voice her disapproval when a toy is taken away or her diaper is changed, and is not easily distracted. She certainly holds her own when she and Siena are playing tug-of-war over a toy! Joe and I predict that her toddler years may be challenging at times... Hopefully we'll have some good tricks up our sleeves by then! For now, we're definitely enjoying her emerging personality and cute cute cuteness.

- Communication: Libby's favorite word is "Da-da", though she also says "Ma-ma," "Ne-na" (for Siena), "Ah da" (for all done), "Bop bop" (for up up), "Bah" (for ball), "Buh" (for book), and "Pa pa" (for Pops, her great-grandfather), among others. She's becoming a good little parrot now and I can tell that her vocabulary is about to really take off. She's also signing "more" and "nurse." Getting her to sign "more" while eating was a huge accomplishment, since she gets so impatient to eat that she usually resorts to yelling.

- Growing up: I guess it's typical to look at the younger child as "the baby" always, even as they move well beyond the baby stage. I find myself doing that, at least. I'll look back at photos or videos of Siena at this age and think "Libby's not old enough to do THAT," and then I'll glance over and find her looking through a book, scribbling with a crayon, or tooting on a recorder or kazoo. She's definitely becoming a little person, and we're all enjoying the ride!