12 months old!!

I have an admission. I have been procrastinating on Nora's 12 month post. And the rest of her birthday posts. The feelings I've been having with this milestone have been many. With all of the joy of Nora turning one comes a little sadness of some of the baby things that are getting to be less and less. We're almost done with the bottle, snuggle naps are extremely rare, and I no longer get to hold my little girl whenever I want. My time with a baby is coming to an end. And it's ending forever, given our fertility issues.

But toddler-hood brings with it a lot of fun times. Times that I appreciate so much.

Nora loves to explore and we are often "walking" all over the house with Nora holding onto our fingers or with one of her push toys. She dances to music, cruises between toys and furniture, loves to crawl up the stairs, brings the dogs their toys and is learning to pat them gently, points to things she wants, and smiles a lot. She has learned to smile for the camera, making what we call her "cheese" face. Her laugh is amazing!

Nora has also learned to express her opinion! It's very clear when Nora does - and does not - want something. It is really amazing to watch her develop her own ideas. She is still as observant as ever, always watching and taking everything in.

As you can tell from our blog, it's been an amazing first year and we are just so dang thankful for it all. So HAPPY 12 MONTHS to our sweet, sweet girl. We are so excited for the next year of memory-making and milestones!

Nora at 12 months old:

• 23.8 lbs and 27.5 inches
• Says Dada, Mama, Dog-Dog, Uht-oh, Kisses
• Wears 12-18 month-sized clothes
• Eats mostly finger foods - current favorite is a hummus sandwich
• 8 teeth

I'm gonna get this owl!