One Year Old!

One year ago (at 10:34 am), Claire was born so today is her first birthday! Julie and I are a mix of emotions as we reflect on surviving the past 12 months.  At times it feels like Claire has always been part of our family and other times we can't believe how a year could go by so fast.  If we could sum up this life changing year it has been crazy, happy, sleepless, anxious, joyful, and surprising - all rolled in to one amazing baby toddler girl named Claire.  We are truly blessed to have such an amazing little person in our lives.  We can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Claire at 12 months:

• She eats three real meals a day and one additional snack at night in addition to her bottles. 
• We have introduced whole milk, with mixed success. We are starting to mix whole milk and breast milk to ease her transition.
• She loves turkey, cheese and bread. If she had more than a few teeth we would just give her a sandwich. 
• She started running, while the walking was fun, the running is just like the walking only more terrifying for mom and dad. 
• She regularly gives kisses to anyone who asks for them, they are typically open mouth and very slobbery. 
• She still takes two naps a day when at home, but is transitioning to one afternoon nap at daycare.
• She sleeps from 7:30pm at night to 7am in the morning.  On weekends, sometimes she gives us a special treat and sleeps until 7:30am. 
• She has 5 teeth, three on top and two on the bottom; but the 6 will break through any day. 
• She is mimicking us speaking with increasing success; she can now say baby, ga-ga (for Grandma), bub-ba (for Aunt Becky and a bottle), ball, duck, uh-oh, in addition to her standards ma-ma, mom, da-da, dad, and my favorite daddy (pronounced dad-DEEEEEE).