So, this is a bit of a strange one, I guess! I didn’t do monthly updates for Little A purely because I wasn’t blogging then and was wondering whether I should do one now.
So here goes!
Little A turned a year on February 24th. I still cannot believe how speedily this year went, I’m still getting used to saying ‘I have a one year old!’.
Teething
Please don’t get me started on this! It seriously feels like we have been to hell and back! Little A began teething around 3 months old but only got her pearly whites around 9 months old. Since November she’s had four teeth in total, top two and bottom two. Where is the fifth one, you ask? I don’t know! She’s been teething but there is no sign of it. The night before her birthday was absolutely horrendous, we were up all night as nothing would work, no bonjela, Ashton and Parsons teething powder nor calpol! I thought maybe now she’ll get a fifth one – no!
If you ask me to define our first year in a few words, one of them words would definitely have to be teething!
Growth
At 11.5 months old, Little A’s height and weight was measured at the 1 year check up. Back then she was 2 ft 5 and weighed 9.40kg. I use to get her weighed every month obsessively until she was 9 months old – one of the reasons being that I didn’t have confidence in myself that I was feeding her correctly but thankfully I came to learn that these worries were meaningless and I can’t tell you how better I feel about myself now.
Milk
Well, as you probably already know that I weaned Little A off the bottles at 11 months and just breastfeed her. At the moment it’s first thing in the morning, before bedtime and once at night. But if she’s teething and inconsolable, I feed her then too. Since she has turned 1, she also has a cup of cows milk a day which she absolutely adores!
Solids
Little A has always been a foodie so we haven’t had any issues. As well as breakfast, lunch and dinner she has two snacks in between which is nearly always fruit. Occasionally, I make carrot muffins, sweet potato pancakes or porridge fingers as a treat (all sugar free) plus they are easy to eat when out and about as well!
Sleep
Yet another aspect of our lives which took over the first year. Up until 6 months, sleep wasn’t an issue as she would only wake every 3 to 4 hours for a feed but since starting solids and going through leap 5, as dramatic as it sounds, our lives changed forever! I’m not going to go in detail as I’ve already written quite extensively about it here.
I hope I don’t jinx myself but this past month (if she’s not teething of course) has actually been quite better. She’s asleep by 7:30pm and even if she stirs and whimpers a little, a light pat will do, at around 3am a pat won’t do and I know she’s probably hungry then as it’s been 9 hours since her last feed. We’re about to enter leap 8 this week so who knows what turn sleep will take now!
Mobility
Little A was quite quick to roll but only began crawling at just shy of 11 months. Many people consider her to be a late crawler but I don’t and neither does the health visitor (something we finally agree on!). She was just not interested at all! She knew she could get from one end of the room to the other by rolling so she never bothered. But now that she’s crawling, she’s even quicker than before.
She can pull herself up and stand in the cot and with the help of the baby gate and is always attempting to get onto the sofa, hasn’t managed yet but we’re nearly there.
I now get asked ‘is she walking yet?’ no she’s not and I’m not worried, just like she began crawling, she’ll start walking when she wants too – anyone else tired of the constant questions about their children?
Personality
If you’ve been reading my previous posts then you will know that I always refer to Little A as a little lady with a big personality and that’s still very true. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll make it known. If I’m on the phone, she will be as loud as possible to the extent that I can’t hear the person on the other end. We have had tantrums when I have to stop her from getting into danger but they are not intense yet thankfully! Sometimes it honestly feels as if though there is a toddler living inside her!
Despite all of the above she is such a little princess, I love the way she shows off her love and affection towards others, sometimes she’d just want sit in your lap and cuddle for the longest time possible and at other times runaway from you because she doesn’t want to be held!
Relationships
She recognises her close relations even if she meets them after a while but that doesn’t mean she will go to them straightaway. If I try to pass her to someone else and if that someone isn’t her Nanna, my Mum, then she will just tighten her grip around me and refuse, even if it’s her Dad! I sometimes have to leave the room so father and daughter can bond on the husband’s day off!
Speech
Little A said her first word at 8.5 months with meaning which was Ammeh (means Mum) and since then we’ve had, mum,
Mama, dad, dada, nana, ok, yesh. She now copies any sounds that we make which is just hilarious! It’s so cute that she changes her tone of voice when she’s talking to her teddies and becomes more high pitched.
Anything else?
She doesn’t like not having her way which is only when she wants something she shouldn’t have or wants to go and hug danger but other than that she rules this household! She absolutely adores books! She has a lovely amount of toys but she just loves her books, turning the pages and just staring at it as if though she’s reading herself.
Sometimes it’s difficult to keep her entertained but then there are times she can entertain herself for a very long time and from things that you least expect. The flexi storage basket from Poundland! Which I use as a nappy changing basket so I’ve had to go and get another one especially for her. Her bowl and spoon, pots and pans, the calculator and lets not forget our bedroom blinds and so much more! She loves going out and hated being snowed in last week, she now is able to understand what ‘give it to me’ means and follows the instructions by passing things to me .
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| Little A peeking outside whilst snowed in. |
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Wow, that was long! I do get carried away when talking about Little A, I feel like I could add so much more but then we’d all be here forever! I’m new to this so I’m not sure if I’ve covered everything that normally is covered in an update so do let me know! I was thinking the next update should be at 18 months as many consider that to be a milestone or I should start doing monthly updates from now on, or perhaps quarterly? Let me know what you think!
Aww happy birthday little princess! She sounds so adorable Soffy. I think these updates are such a lovely way to capture all the previous memories for you to look back on together in years to come. Ooh and you'll have to share your sweet potato pancake recipe! They sound yummy! Thanks for linking up x #DreamTeam
Thank you Dawn! I will be sharing soon! Healthy and tasty at the same time xx
She is adorable. Hope she had a lovely birthday. #stayclassymama
What a sweetie and a great way to capture her progress #StayClassyMama
Little A sounds fantastic. My youngest is 2 & 1/2 now and I struggle to remember what she was like at that age so it's great that you have it all written down here. I love that she talks to her teds and looks through books – so sweet! #BloggerClubUK