Life with Nia: 1 Year

She's a toddler now!

Well, here we are at 1 year old! I'm not a super emotional person, but I've been very nostalgic looking back at all of Nia's pictures and videos over the past few days. I never could have imagined that Mr. Love Bird and I would be blessed with such a wonderful baby. This year has flown by, and I am in love with my little Love Bird now more than ever!

The first pic of baby Nia

When I look at her face I see her father - at one year old, I think she looks more like him than she does me! One realization I've had is that having kids definitely makes life speed up; make that WARP SPEED! I don't necessarily feel old, but I just have a better appreciation of making the most of every moment and living life to the fullest. Thank you Virginia Adanna Agbai for helping me realize that. 

Now for the monumental update . . .

• Baby's Weight: I still think she's hovering around 20lbs; she's quite light!

• Baby's Height: Hmmm, she hasn't been wearing pants much; usually just her diaper, but in general I think she's lengthening. She looks more long than she does round! We'll find out height and weight on Tuesday at her 1 year appointment (Mr. Love Bird will be going with me for the first time!)

• What size of clothing does baby wear? Still 12 months 

• Any milestones baby reached during the month:  
• Just getting more and more steady at walking

• She's getting better at repeating words and phrases; I know it's weird, but she can say, "Ten years." It's on account of an Old School Sesame Street sketch she loves to watch (the phrase is at the :25 mark):

• Special outings baby had during the month: Her first flight (post forthcoming!) and visit a visit to my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. We also took a Bolt Bus trip to DC.

• What are your thoughts about the past month? It's been bittersweet knowing that it was her last few weeks of babyhood. Nia is a delight and Mr. Love Bird and I cannot get over how blessed we are to have her. I can remember like it was yesterday how she laid on my chest searching for milk - she was so precious and still is!

• What was baby's routine? Since Nia now has a lovie, getting her down has been easy, but keeping her asleep double-digit hours has been a challenge. She rarely wakes up in the night, but regardless of what time she goes to bed she pops up usually at 5a.m. Since coming back from Ohio I've been able to get her down before 8p.m., and I'm hoping it will last (well, at least until the next milestone!). She spends most of the day playing and running around. Nia especially likes to bring me books to read to her. I try to get her outdoors as much as possible, but sometimes we just chase each other around the apartment.

• Reflect about the highlights of the month: Taking Nia on her first trip was fun! She seemed to really enjoy it. We had a connection both ways and she was very interested in looking at the plane as we approached it on the tarmac. I could tell she was a bit apprehensive inside the airport and walking down the jet bridge. It was fun though explaining everything we were seeing.

• Did any big changes occur, such as baby started daycare, stopped nursing, slept through the night, etc... She's still cutting her back teeth and she has her hands in her mouth about 75% of the time despite me giving her teethers to chew; I'm still hoping to wean, but I'm not rushing it. At times I'm able to get her down for the night without a feeding, but during the day she constantly wants to nurse despite me trying to get her to eat various foods. 

• What are baby's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... She's most attached to "Baba" her bear and LOVE other children, especially babies (she can say baby too!). Her favorite book is Please, Baby, Please, courtesy of my friend Millicent (I kinda think she looks like the baby, don't you?):

Photo Credit