Chloe Grace: 12 Months Old

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Chloe! Happy birthday to youuuu!!! The day is finally here. A very anticipated day indeed. It’s hard to believe this is the last of Chloe’s monthly updates! I have such mixed emotions about my baby girl turning one. On one hand, I’m so proud of everything she’s accomplished. She has learned so much over the past year! I’m also proud of JP and I for getting to this point. I mean, she is the first human that we’ve raised after all! On the other hand, it’s hard to see my tiny baby growing up. I know as she gets older she’ll become more independent and need me less. For now, I’ll continue to soak up all of my snuggles and beam with pride and joy over all of her milestones.

This month Chloe finally got brave enough to walk all by herself! She’s been so close for the last three months. She would take a couple of steps here and there or stand by herself for a few seconds, but she would always sit down as soon as she realized she was doing it. {Aunt Em kept calling her a chicken.} With a little coaxing from JP and I, she finally started walking on Sunday! I knew she was ready because as soon as she realized she could do it, she was walking across the room. Now, just 6 days later, she’s walking everywhere and showing off to anyone who will watch her. Good thing Jody helped us baby proof a few weeks ago because now she’s ready to get into everything!

Our little nugget has been growing right on track. At all of her well baby check ups she’s been between 50-60% on all the growth charts. Her official one year appointment isn’t until next Tuesday, but when we went this last Monday {little Chlo had a virus 🙁 She’s all better now!}, she was 20lb 0.3oz. I attempted to measure her height, and I believe she’s about 28 inches tall. I guess we’ll find out her actual stats come next week! She’s definitely in a lengthening phase because her thighs aren’t quite as chubby and chunky as they used to be! She’s still in 9 and 12 month clothes. We have a couple of 9 month sleepers that fit her, but we’ve mostly moved onto 12 month PJs because of those long legs!

Not only is she growing big and strong but her little mind is soaking up so much as well! She can say hi, dada, ball, up, hot dog and uh oh. She can give kisses to us and her babies, high five and show us what’s in her mouth. {She’ll open her mouth and stick out her tongue…and any food in there.} She loves to climb the stairs, and she can go down the stairs…very reluctantly. She usually goes down about 3 steps before she starts crying and climbing back up again. Then she’ll fuss until I pick her up and just take her down. It’s definitely a work in progress.

Her current favorite places in the house are underneath the desk, the baby gates and the coffee bar in the kitchen! I had to move everything around in the coffee bar so that the only things she can get to are baby safe like spoons, sealed coffee bags and hot chocolate K-cups.

Miss Priss is so full of personality. She has the most expressive face, and you can always tell how she feels about something based on her eyes and eyebrows! I think she has a new face every couple of weeks. She still loves her scrunchy nose face, and now she has a weird one where she sticks her bottom jaw out while she opens and closes her mouth. She’s a little odd ball, but I guess she is my daughter!

This month’s firsts:

First time to eat her own cake!
First 4th of July
First visit to the splash pad
First time in a ball pit
First Gymboree play day
First virus 🙁
First steps! She’s walking!

My Darling Chloe Grace,

I’m still wondering where this last year has gone! I remember waking up a year ago with so much excitement and anxiety knowing that I would get to finally see your face. After 7 hours of labor and 20 minutes of pushing, you were in my arms and I was the happiest woman in the world. I didn’t know that my heart could hold so much love! What’s even crazier is that I continue to love you more and more every single day. I didn’t think it was possible to love you more than the first time I saw you, but God is constantly showing me I am capable of so much more.

This past month has been pretty calm compared to the two months before! We started the month with a trip to Austin for a dear family friend’s wedding followed by your first 4th of July! You loved watching the sparklers, but we’re too sure about the loud booms from the big fireworks. You like watching the ones going off farther away because they didn’t startle you as much! The rest of the month we actually spent in Houston. It was nice being home and getting back into our routine.

The biggest thing that happened this month is you finally started walking! Oh you had the proudest momma. I got a little teary eyed when you finally got brave enough to take off across the room. You’ve been so close for months, but you were just a bit timid and scared. You would accidentally take a few steps and then sit down once you realized that you weren’t holding on! We finally decided to sit down and show you that you were ready and could do it on your own. Momma and Daddy had you walking across the rug from one to the other. After a few times, you got braver and didn’t lean forward into us quite as much. In about 15 minutes, you had it figured out. It took about 2 days for you to realize that you could just walk everywhere!

I’m so proud of you little girl. You continue to amaze me every day! You have gone from a tiny, squishy newborn to a giggly, squirmy baby to a walking, excited toddler. I know that this is just the beginning. I look forward to watching you continue to grow into a little girl. I know that God will continue to help us to raise you and teach you the right things. He’s helped us so much thus far! Thank you for making me a momma. Becoming a mom has been the greatest joy in my life. I’m so thankful to be YOUR momma! God has worked wonders in our little family, and I know that he will continue to lead us down the right path in life.

I love you forever,
Momma