My Sweet Bug Is One

I know us bloggers say this all the time, but really, “where did the time go?” There is simply no way that Sarah Ellen is one year old already. She is becoming a little person more and more each day, and I can’t get enough of her. Here are some of the latest updates:

• She loves to clap her hands. Anytime she hears a “yay”, she starts clapping away. When you ask her to do other tricks, she’ll think about it and then adamantly clap her hands, as if to say, “but look at this one.”
• The day before her birthday she officially said her first word: uh-oh. She dropped something, looked at me and said, “uh-oh.” At first, I thought it was a coincidence until she continued to do it. The next day, she thought it was great to throw everything out of the stroller and say, “uh-oh”. It was pretty cute the first five times.
• Sarah Ellen eats well, but is a little more picky than her sister was. She is still not a fan of different textures. She prefers either baby food or finger food, nothing in between, meaning grits, mashed potatoes, etc. She eats three meals a day and several snacks here and there.
• We are transitioning to milk and she has done well with it. She now can drink from a sippy and a straw cup. She gets whole milk in the morning and after her nap. She is still getting a formula bottle at night until we run out. Then I have to debate: milk in a bottle or sippy?
• Sarah Ellen is still not a big snuggler, although I have been able to rock her some the past few nights. This is a first since she was tiny. She also will randomly climb up into my lap and want to be held briefly from time to time.
• She has nine teeth and three molars on the way. Yikes
• Speaking of teeth, she has become a little biter. She will lunge for you very excited and chomp down on whatever her little teeth can get. James and I both have marks on our stomachs, chests, and arms. She is doing this affectionately, but enough is enough.
• I believe she is in the process of dropping her morning nap, although some mornings can get a little hairy without a cat nap. She continues to take a good 2-3 hour afternoon nap as long as she hasn’t slept too long in the morning. She goes to bed around 8 and wakes around 7, give or take 30 minutes.
• She lights up when she sees her big sister. They have begun to play some sweet games together and are both trying to figure out the whole sharing thing.
• She certainly has opinions about things and is not afraid to share them. I don’t think we will have to worry about this girl sticking up for herself.
• Sarah Ellen is a mover. We never had to baby-proof the house with Lily, but Sarah Ellen is very adventurous. She loves to climb, pull, explore, and get into everything. For example: Today she climbed onto the foot stool on Papa’s scooter (he was not in it). Next thing you know, the scooter is moving forward with her on it by herself. She had reached up, turned it on and pressed the knob to move it. This girl may give me a heart attack. She certainly keeps us on our toes.
• She loves to throw things off the balcony. Once again, Lily never even thought of this. Sarah Ellen will hold something over, look at you, let it go, laugh and do it again.
• She loves the water: bath, pool and ocean. She will put her whole face in and not be phased at all.
• Sarah Ellen will have absolutely nothing to do with a bow or hat.
• Changing her diaper is still like a WWF round. I’m wondering when and if this will ever get better. One would think you could overpower a 20 pound little baby, but not this gal. It is exhausting work, which means that she mostly only gets changed for poops. Good thing diapers are super absorbent these days.

Sarah Ellen, you light up our world. I simply cannot imagine our life without you. You complete our family perfectly and I thank you for being so good to us. We look forward to the amazing years we have yet to come. I pray that you will know and love God above and that He will guide us in raising you. May you be blessed with His love always. We love you Bug.