Avery's 12th month

Just writing the title of this post brings tears to my eyes. I still can't even believe my sweet little baby girl is now officially a toddler! As with every major moment in motherhood, this milestone proved to be bittersweet for me as a mom. I miss my little baby but I look forward to getting to see her personality and learn her preferences as they present themselves every day.
We had her one year appointment on Tuesday and here are her stats and of course, some photos.

• Avery weighs 26 lb 2 oz (95th%) and is 30 inches long (82nd%)
• She has been walking for a month now and gains confidence and speed every day. She can now stand up from sitting without using something (or someone!) to crawl up on. She can also bend down to pick something up without sitting down to do it.
• She watches a video, Baby Signing Time, every morning while she eats breakfast. She absolutely loves it and I find myself singing the songs all day long too! She can sign: more, all done, banana, hat, dog, cat, goodbye, and thank you! Such a smart baby we have.
• She is getting a bit more picky with what she eats and definitely prefers things seasoned and/or cooked. Her favorite food is still cheese but she enjoys fruits (especially mango and banana), veggies (especially sweet potato), grilled chicken (sometimes) and veggie burger patties all the time! She also really enjoys hummus, lentils, raisins, Cheerios and canned peas!
• Avery does NOT like milk and it is driving mama a bit crazy trying to find ways to get her to drink it. I cut out bottles and formula cold-turkey on her birthday, hoping she wouldn't notice the transition to milk from a sippy cup but no such luck! I have brought the bottles back to attempt the transition again (mixing milk with formula and decreasing the formula each day) but she has noticed the milk in the smallest amounts! She won't even eat it with cereal! Soooo, the milk saga continues. (I make sure she eats a cheese stick and a serving of plain yogurt every day, so she is getting the nutrients she needs.)

We had a family photo shoot the day after her birthday with my good friend, Sarah Thorne Hames of Rhone Studios, who has sure come a long way since doing my maternity photos and Avery's newborn pictures as well. We went to a local park and attempted to get some good shots of the 3 of us together and some of just Avery in her birthday outfit. I am so pleased we got several frame-worthy shots and Avery did a great job despite refusing to nap that morning.

The link to the photos on her blog is here:
http://rhonestudios.blogspot.com/2011/07/klingensmith-family-averys-1st-b-day.html

12 months!

 Mama and Dada and the beautiful birthday girl

She loves to have fun!!

So proud of what we made

Happy birthday to our sweet baby girl. Words can't express how much we love you and how grateful we are that you came along and changed our lives for the (much much) better. We thank our lucky stars several times a day that you are happy and healthy and growing up into someone we are so proud of. Can't wait to see what the years to come will bring you and our family!

Love, Mama and Dada