12 Months of Erin

Erin's birthday was a couple weeks ago.  She turned 1, ate cake, got some of the presents I got for her (I found the rest on Friday morning.  Guess I'll save them for Christmas), took an unexpected trip to New York, and then came home and was fairly mom-less for a week while I took care of Fair Hill's website.  So her birthday got a little bit overlooked this year.  It's ok.  She's 1.  It's not like she knew or cared.  It was more like she was wondering why so many people were looking at her and singing poorly, and what IS that flame on top of the cake?

Anyway, next year we're gonna try not to make the unexpected trip to New York (how about nobody gets in a motorcycle accident again, ok?) and we'll try to have a little more organized birthday celebration for a 2 year old little girl.  But I'm sorry, Erin.  Your birthday kind of landed at the wrong time of year, and you're going to be Mama-less for that week after your birthday.  When you're older you can skip school and help at Fair Hill.  It'll be like extended birthday celebrations.

Belated birthday wishes to you, sweet baby girl.  You went last week for your 1 year well visit.  You are 30.5 inches (like 85th percentile) and 20 lbs 4 oz (like 50th percentile).  You have 2 1/2 teeth and three more just sitting right there, ready to explode in to your mouth and make you an apple eating CHAMP.  And every now and then you stand up, let go of whatever you are holding on to, and you don't fall down for a good 5 seconds.  You also have mastered the climbing of stairs.  Going down is a whole nuther story.  You sign "milk" and "eat" and "sleep" and "yes" and "no" and also some more "no" and then you sign "no" some more.  You have figured out how to clap to mean "all done", and you know to point to your books when you want to read more books.  You also, charmingly, wave "hi" and "bye" and blow kisses, which is hella cute.  Your first word is decidedly "hi" and you call the dog "hi" all the time.  You love the dog, so long as he's not trying to kiss you.  It's kind of a common theme around this house, so you're in good company.

Happy Birthday, Erin!  Here's some photos from your first year:

Birth.  This picture is technically on Oct 14th because it took a couple hours before I stopped snuggling and nursing her and they finally weighed her and cleaned her up a bit.

One month plus a day, the day after Erin got home from the hospital for her meningitis scare.

Two Months, taken under the Christmas tree

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months, and tentatively sitting up on her own.

Seven months

Eight months, and holy crap she needs a hair cut already.

Nine months, close to crawling, first hair cut has happened.

Ten months, taken at the lake house in New York

Eleven months, pulling herself to standing

One year!  Celebrating at Aunt Jeanne's house with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Christy and Uncle Steven.