The Dudette: One Year Old!
One year ago today, the number of children in our household literally doubled in size. Good thing we aren’t the Duggars. No, we just went from one to two, but it’s been a crazy, life-changing year nonetheless. First of all, I can’t believe it’s been a whole year. The first year of the Dudette’s life went by so much faster than the Dude’s first year; I have no idea where the time went. The reason for the perceived acceleration of time is probably due to the fact that we already had another kid, and keeping both of them constantly entertained certainly makes the time fly by…not a lot of “down time,” to say the least.
Developmentally, she is doing very well. She is still small (or petite) for her age, tipping the scales at 17 pounds. People find it hard to believe she’s as old as she is, based on her size. But she’s a Straus, so whaddya gonna do? She started walking a few steps at a time last month, and each day she is trying a little more, but crawling is still her preferred method of transportation. I expect full walking before year’s end. She is quite a chatterbox, but so far the only real word she says is “Hi,” which she’s been saying for a while, but lately she is saying it as an actual greeting…it’s ridiculously cute. She loves playing with toys and reading books - she will take a book, sit on the floor and turn the pages, chattering away. She is still enthralled by her crazy brother, who entertains her by running around, jumping up and down, and sometimes actually just playing nicely with her.
She loves day care - she will reach for her teacher when we take her in the morning, and she has a great time playing. She has become the most popular baby in the place; all the teachers and administrators say she’s their favorite. Her teacher claims she said the name of one of the other babies in her class, but I’m not sure about that. She will be moving up to the 1-year-old room in January, much to the dismay of her current teachers, but right now she’s by far the oldest in her room, and I think having older kids around will hasten her development.
She’s a pretty good eater, but she seems to prefer food with firmer texture as opposed to soft things like pasta or applesauce, but she eats fairly well. Her sleeping is still infuriatingly inconsistent. She’s usually up once a night; sometimes she’ll go back to sleep quickly, sometimes she’ll be up for a while. It’s impossible to predict. Luckily her brother sleeps through her crying spells.
It took me a while to “get” the father-daughter bonding thing, but for the last 9 months or so, she has me wrapped around her cute little finger and I’m perfectly happy with that. This little angel of a person will cure depression faster than Prozac; her smile cuts through any bad feelings and pierces my heart with a spear of warm light and happiness. (Good god that was sappy and terrible, sorry.) As nice as it is with her as a baby, I can’t wait for her to talk more, to walk more, and to become a little girl. I’m so looking forward to seeing her personality develop, to really be able to interact with her the way I interact with the Dude. They say a person’s personality doesn’t change much after being 6 months old or so, and if that’s the case, then my beautiful little sweetheart of a daughter is going to be the happiest and most fun girl around. She is truly my world; when she reaches for me to pick her up and then she hugs me - I mean she actually hugs me - I am in such a state of bliss that I never want to let go of her.
And I won’t…until she’s 25 or so.
Developmentally, she is doing very well. She is still small (or petite) for her age, tipping the scales at 17 pounds. People find it hard to believe she’s as old as she is, based on her size. But she’s a Straus, so whaddya gonna do? She started walking a few steps at a time last month, and each day she is trying a little more, but crawling is still her preferred method of transportation. I expect full walking before year’s end. She is quite a chatterbox, but so far the only real word she says is “Hi,” which she’s been saying for a while, but lately she is saying it as an actual greeting…it’s ridiculously cute. She loves playing with toys and reading books - she will take a book, sit on the floor and turn the pages, chattering away. She is still enthralled by her crazy brother, who entertains her by running around, jumping up and down, and sometimes actually just playing nicely with her.
She loves day care - she will reach for her teacher when we take her in the morning, and she has a great time playing. She has become the most popular baby in the place; all the teachers and administrators say she’s their favorite. Her teacher claims she said the name of one of the other babies in her class, but I’m not sure about that. She will be moving up to the 1-year-old room in January, much to the dismay of her current teachers, but right now she’s by far the oldest in her room, and I think having older kids around will hasten her development.
She’s a pretty good eater, but she seems to prefer food with firmer texture as opposed to soft things like pasta or applesauce, but she eats fairly well. Her sleeping is still infuriatingly inconsistent. She’s usually up once a night; sometimes she’ll go back to sleep quickly, sometimes she’ll be up for a while. It’s impossible to predict. Luckily her brother sleeps through her crying spells.
It took me a while to “get” the father-daughter bonding thing, but for the last 9 months or so, she has me wrapped around her cute little finger and I’m perfectly happy with that. This little angel of a person will cure depression faster than Prozac; her smile cuts through any bad feelings and pierces my heart with a spear of warm light and happiness. (Good god that was sappy and terrible, sorry.) As nice as it is with her as a baby, I can’t wait for her to talk more, to walk more, and to become a little girl. I’m so looking forward to seeing her personality develop, to really be able to interact with her the way I interact with the Dude. They say a person’s personality doesn’t change much after being 6 months old or so, and if that’s the case, then my beautiful little sweetheart of a daughter is going to be the happiest and most fun girl around. She is truly my world; when she reaches for me to pick her up and then she hugs me - I mean she actually hugs me - I am in such a state of bliss that I never want to let go of her.
And I won’t…until she’s 25 or so.