Let's Not Forget Month 12

Though her first birthday party was definitely a highlight of month 12, the rest of the month was pretty great, too. Here are some photos of what Penny got up to, right before the big birthday.

Penny fell in love with the outdoors! She's always trying to get to the park, or at least outside to the front yard. (Penny is wearing her Fairy Tale Hoodie.)

One thing she wasn't impressed with was her first bubble bath. Thinking it might be relaxing for her, Mr. Jones filled her bath with bubbles one night. We put her in, patted some suds on her head, showed her that they aren't so different from the bubbles we blow from a wand...

...but she was not impressed. Who wouldn't feel intimidated if their bath toys (not to mention their legs) suddenly disappeared!

Her waving gets more frequent every day.  She waves to dogs and to neighbors.  She loves looking out the windows at birds and bicycles.  She points at everything and vocalizes, uh, something about it. She knows 'hello' and 'good-bye' and when she hears them, the arm automatically comes up. It's so sweet; I love it.

She also spent a lot of time with her friend Camilla, who just turned 1 as well. I've been delighted at how they really play together, and transfer skills between one another. They play nicely together except when Camilla gets interested in Penny's pacifier.  No one is getting my girl's paci for long ;).

If there's one thing that puts Penny in a good mood, it's...Penny. Give her a mirror and you've got a content baby for 10 minutes. We also play dress-up with hats and sweaters. Penny's attempts to dress herself crack me up. She might not know how to get things on, but she knows how to take things off!

We've been working on our eating, too.  We spend a LOT of time in the high chair, trying new foods, and trying to get foods into her in any kind of quantity.  Penny likes food, but she'd certainly rather be playing than sitting down and eating!

I met a woman at the museum the other day who looked at me enviously and said, "When they're between one and two, it's the absolute best. They really come into their own."  Penny's personality in the last couple months has been so vibrant and fun, that I'm really looking forward to the next months (and hopefully good weather!).  The baby really seems gone now as she's regularly walking, and starting to form words.  I think she thinks about this, too ;).  

I won't be tracking her months as meticulously from now on, but will certainly not miss out on taking lots of photos as often as I can. I'm also starting a scrapbook for her.  This brings out the sweaty panicked fear in me, as I've always rushed past those aisles in the craft stores.  Their brash colors and strange tools really intimidate me. Along with all the photos that I want Penny to have hard copies of, we have so many keepsakes from the first year, from the hospital visit to her first birthday. Hopefully I can put together something simple and classic.  Wish me luck!

Looking back, here are months:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and you're here at 12!  Thanks for sticking with me this (long and hard) year.  It's nice to see how far we've come!