baker bree | 12 months

we made it a whole year!  

still in disbelief and in a total Baker coma after our fun family celebration earlier this week, but we cant wait to do it all over again this weekend!  its amazing how much this little bug brings to our family, and although we definitely want another, if the Lord doesn't bless us in that way, this little girl completes our family of five perfectly.  she's it.  she's our Baker Bree.

and she's awesome.

banner // head wrap // dress

we had our ONE year well check this morning with Dr. Butler!  Baker would hardly sit still before she came in the room- demolishing the white paper covering the bench, but the moment Dr. B came in, she was stone still and allowed her to listen to her heart + lungs and check out her ears.

Baker at TWELVE months

Weight:  20 pounds 7 ounces (40th percentile)

Birth: 6 lbs 13 oz

Height:  29 in ( 47th percentile)

Birth: 19.1 in

Head:    48cm ( >97th percentile)

Birth: 34.5 cm

Dr. B said when she came in that her growth was at the 40th percentile for weight and height and her head was growing 'perfect'.. oh, you mean greater than the 97th percentile?

she's off the growth charts for her head..and she get it from her mama.  

 we mentioned that she had some drainage in her eyes and I thought for sure pink eye was taking over my house earlier this week, but alas, she has an ear infection in the corresponding ear to the goopy eye (goopy is such a gross word..).  arg!  I didn't even know and she hadn't even been pulling or fussing about it.  so, a round of antibiotics + probiotics for miss Baker.  we also checked her hemoglobin and she's borderline anemic (Jolie was as well at one year), so we are starting her on vitamins, too. other than that.. she's happy and healthy!

whats new?

so many things happen in just four week's time!

• ah-ooh!  she has a handful of words she says regularly: dah (dad), daw (dog), hey!, mama, and the most recent.. ah-ooooh (uh-oh).  I was feeding her yogurt from a spoon and she swatted it out of my hand being silly after taking a bite and she said ah-ooooh after it fell to the floor.. like it was no big deal at all.  
• silly girl.  the twins find her to be absolutely hilarious!  she's got this silly personality and when she knows someone is watching she will act even more crazy!  
• dance dance!! she loves to dance and will dance to even the shortest tune.  waving her hands back and forth has been the extent of her dancing for the last couple months, but this month she added in the sway and head bob. again, the more we laugh the sillier her dance moves become!
• sings like a bird.  along with the dancing.. she sings and hums to herself all the time.  I freaking love it. 
• speedy baker. she's so quick to move from one place to another.. she rarely wants to be held these days, and fights until she has broken free of whoever is holding her.
• back back back it up.  LOVES to sit in my lap.  when I am sitting on the floor, she will get about a foot from me and then turn around and back herself up until she hits my legs and then plop right down.  it puts me into giggles every time.
• minding her territory.  we got a glimpse of this for the first time this month. she has never been one to care about others around her, but lately if the twins are sitting in my lap or laying on my shoulder she comes barreling in (literally) and takes a nose dive into my lap.  halfway being silly, but if the big girls don't move out and let her sit in she's squawking until they do.
• vocal.  she is very vocal.  lets everyone know she's in the room.. hence one of her words being HEY!  most of the time is sounds like HAW!  but we say 'hey' when we are being so silly, and we picked that up from Parker Jane, who engages Baker with a loud and silly hey! all the time.
• self play. she's really gotten the hang of this well.  the big girls are at an age that they play solo the entire day (I cant tell you the last time they asked me or their dad to join..) and Baker has learned and followed suit.  makes it easy to get a handful of things done around the house outside of nap time when I find myself not wanting to do anything!
• selfies. calling her dad or BB on the phone is one of her favorite things to do.  I think most of it is because she can see herself and see two of her favorite people on the phone screen!  she also thinks its funny when I flip the camera around to take a selfie.  she starts laughing and wrinkling her nose.
• she LOVES her BB.  following in line with the other four grand babies, her BB has hung the moon.
• changing colors.  her eyes are most definitely going the hazel route in color.  everyone in this house has shades of blue and grey.. but my middle brother has hazel eyes.  she there you go.
• smart cookie.  she's totally perfected this game of hide and seek. I used to run around the island in the kitchen hiding and letting her find me, and she would never figure it out.  well, the other night I was making my way around and peeked around the corner and she wasn't there.. I sat there for a second and looked again and still no Baker.  I turned around and there she was.  I yelped with laughter (because she really did startle me!) and she let out the biggest belly laugh!  she figured out my game!
• faker. she has this FUNNY fake laugh.  she does it when she's looking for some attention- like when we are in the car and everyone she can see is asleep we will hear Baker from the backseat just laughing away- as if to get the big girls' attention. 
• stats.  she's still (STILL) in size 3 diapers.  I think this was a fluke because we were so close to buying the next size up and then she started walking and some of that weight she'd been packing on slowed a bit.  6-12 month clothes, depending on the brand.  I have stopped buying the 6-12 month size in anticipation for her to hit a growth spurt.

E A T

last week I thought for sure Baker was done with bottles.  I thought she had self-weaned and I even mentioned it with a picture of B with her 'last bottle'.  well.  I was wrong.  the next day she refused most food and only wanted her bottle.. and then woke up hungry at all hours that night.  so.  I bought another (my last?) container of formula and offered it to her again.  she is only taking about 3 bottles during the day and I have been sitting her in her highchair to eat three meals.  trying to get her acclimated for when we do toss the bottles for good.  I have learned that with Baker, she has to be focused to eat- table food or bottle.  I cant just plop her down for a bottle in the middle of active playtime. I have to completely remove her from everything and offer it and she will usually take it and suck down the entire eight ounces.  same with the table food.  if she is tired or distracted she has a really hard time with it.  Dr. Butler made a point to tell us it was time to stop formula and ditch the bottles, those are on their way out.

daily feeding/solids schedule:

 6-7am: 4oz whole milk (in a sippy cup)

9:30-10am: breakfast!

1pm: lunch + 4oz whole milk!

4-4:30pm: snack (puffs + yogurt melts + fruit + granola bar)

6pm: dinner (protein + starch + vegetable + yogurt)

7pm: bath

7:30pm: bed + 4 oz whole milk

after she came back as borderline anemic, I will really get strict on the amount of dairy she has (too much calcium blocks iron absorption in the blood) so limiting yogurt and whole milk to about 12 ounces and no more than the recommended 16 ounces/day.

I have been pulling ideas from the toddler meal plans I feel I like wrote forever ago (like this one!) and have been trying to make real meals for Baker vs offering her whatever I think she will eat. I used to get so SO frustrated when the twins refused to eat.  I don't know if its because she is the third kid in the house and I've got four other mouths to worry about feeding besides hers or if I learned to let it go, but I don't get as frustrated about feeding her.  she's got a texture thing, so things like oatmeal don't fly on her taste palette just yet, but she's got a handful of things I know she will always eat and some new favorites, which I am excited about!  

our baby (toddler?!) food go-to:  

cheddar cheese slices (cut into pincher size squares)

banana slices

guacamole on tortilla or chip (she usually just sucks the guac off and then hans me the soggy chip for a refill..)

sweet potato hummus on pita bread

quinoa meatballs (we love these!)

peanut butter (on a spoon!) 

peanut butter sandwich crackers

little cutie oranges

pinto beans

blueberries

pancakes

english muffin with butter

grilled chicken

..and most recently, cherry tomatoes (cut in half just as you would with grapes)

she is totally over the baby food pouches,  but I have been buying these 'mash up' fruit/applesauce pouches for the twins (I started sending them in their school lunches) and she loves them!  its an easy snack to take on the go!  I found a website called easy toddler meals and she has got some really GREAT stuff on their that not only do the twins like, but easy things for Baker to have as well! its a pro BLW website, so it is also a great resource for babies 6+ months. 

we tried the 4 ingredient turkey pot pies  +  sweet potato broccoli patties!  we love sweet potatoes over here so these were a big hit!  and the mini size of the pies were fun for all three of the girls!

S L E E P

I LOVE HER for the way she sleeps.  after the having the worst sleepers everrrr between Parker and Jolie, Baker just impresses me to the core with her ability to zonk out for hours and hours.
once again, she get it from her mama.
typical sleep routine

wake: 6:30-7am for a bottle and then back to sleep until 8-8:30am

nap #1: 10:30am-1:30pm

nap #2: 3:30pm-4:30-5pm

bedtime: 7:30pm

we are still taking 2 naps and don't see that changing anytime soon, but, she occasionally will sleep through her second nap.. getting in a solid 4 hours or more in the middle of the day.  if we skip that afternoon nap she is so ready for bed by 6:30pm or 7pm.

P L A Y / D E V E L O P M E N T

she's growing and developing SO QUICKLY!  she picks up on many things that the big girls do, so its easy to understand. she is really into baby dolls right now.  BB got Baker her very own baby doll and baby stroller to push around for her birthday.  she takes care of that baby non-stop!  giving it the paci, feeding it the bottle, and then stuffing it in (gently?) to the stroller to push it around the house before its time to take care of the baby again.  she is also starting to acknowledge babies in pictures and on the television!  so sweet.
she points at everything. she started to point out family members and friends in pictures and if you ask her where someone is she will look in that direction and respond with a grunt or the cutest cooing should.
along with the handful of words she puts on repeat, she is communicating much more this month.  understanding that nodding her head yes or no will get our attention to know what exactly she wants/needs.  she also really lets you know when she is hungry or thirsty.  we have these water bottles for the big girls, and after seeing the twins with these she refuses the hundreds of traditional sippy cups I have offered her!  sass pants.  so we have one that is 16 ounces for water and one that is about 14 ounces for her milk.

I think she's done with these pictures.. good news girlfriend!

I still cant believe she is a whole year old!  Happy 12 months Baker Bear!!

twelve month photo dump