As I mentioned, we took Charlotte to her 12 month appointment a couple weeks ago to get the doctor to sign off on her health for her new daycare. Besides proceeding to shove a finger up my nose and cause it to bleed, Charlotte is right on track.
Charlotte has finally doubled her birth weight! I know she was huge to begin with, but it took a year to happen.
Weight: 19 lbs, 15 oz - 38%
Height: 30 inches - 85%
She's growing, but has certainly slowed down her aggressive pace of height.
Anyway, Charlotte continues to be a joy to be around. She's happy, she sleeps like a dream (12 hours straight from 7PM to 7AM), and she looks at the world in wonderment.
- She shows very little interest in reading. I try to read to her every night, but usually have to pin her down because there are just too many other things to look at.
- Charlotte appears to be allergic to peas (peas!). Twice now, she's broken out in a blotchy rash on her face and then furiously rubs her eyes until they're both bright red. It's strange because she's had peas before with no adverse effects, but maybe allergies develop over time? No idea. The Kaiser Advice nurse dubs her a "sensitive" child. Anyway, Benadryl is now on hand.
- She's developing a very independent and stubborn streak. I mentioned that she now has an attitude, whereby she has to do everything herself. I think that's why she's not walking yet. She needs to do things on her terms.
- Speaking of walking. She's close. It's all about confidence, and Charlotte doesn't think she has any. She'll walk for days if you're holding her hands, but the minute you let go, she drops to the floor. Each day, however, she'll sit herself down a little more slowly. If we surprise her, she'll stand on her own until realizing that ohmygosh I'm standing! Without holding onto anything! And she'll tumble to the floor.
- Talking. Not much of it. But boy does she understand a lot. She can give us high fives, go "je suis grande!" ("I'm so big" and lift her hands up in the air over her head), clap to music, pretend wash herself with a dry washcloth, brush her hair, and more.
- She claps when she eats something really good. I gave her a piece of a churro yesterday, and after tasting, chewing and swallowing, Charlotte looked at me, gave me a big smile and clapped. Sugar and cinnamon seem to be winners!
- We're weaning her from the bottle. She still signs for milk. (Breastfeeding ended about three weeks ago when she bit me, I yelled bloody murder, and we stopped. It had already been a while since I stopped pumping at work and Charlotte was more and more frustrated with my dwindling supply, particularly after we came back from St. Louis, so it was time). She still throws the sippy cup on the ground more times than not, but for the past two mornings, she's willingly drunk milk from the cup and not even gotten mad. Progress, people!
- She loves every cat she sees, but is unsure of dogs. We saw our friend's big chocolate lab and he started barking. Charlotte turned to me, her face all scrunched up, and started crying.
- Tandy is still her favorite living creature. Charlotte can't wait for the day that she can move fast enough to catch her.
- Charlotte does not cuddle. She squirms and squirms and won't calm down. She just has limitless energy and things to do! The best money I think we'll have spent thus far is to have bought Charlotte her own seat to Hawaii. I found an amazing deal last week and decided that I was willing to pay to not have to hold her down for six hours. (She is also a routine queen and refuses to take a nap unless it's in her crib or in her car seat -- makes things tough when we're out and about).
Anyway, what else can I say? This girl just charms the pants off of just about everybody she meets. She's become a favorite of the 3 and 4 year old teachers at daycare, who stop in just so they can hold "Baby Charlotte."
Baby in a Box!
"Walking" with Grandma and Grandpa Berry
Here's to an amazing year, Charlotte. We can't wait to find out what the next year holds.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
Great recap! Colin is also a squirmer and will rarely sit still for a cuddle. I thought maybe it was because he is a boy but I guess not! Can't believe she is allergic to peas! How exciting that you'll soon have a walker on your hands. It's been a great year for you guys and you are so lucky to have such a special little girl
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maggie--great recap! And I loved the pictures in your last post as well--Charlotte looks enormous is that chair :)
ReplyDelete**Putting on my nerd hat:
Allergies nearly always develop over time, and particularly exposure. Simplistically, your body can develop antibodies against things (food, pollen, mold, etc) each time you are exposed to them, until you reach some sort of critical antibody mass. Once that mass (or "titer") is reached, you are allergic to that thing and will have a reaction each subsequent time you are exposed. For example, I was never allergic to shrimp until about 5 years ago, but have probably been developing an allergy to shrimp since the first time I had it.
This is also true for people with pollen allergies--the first year they live someplace, their allergies don't act up, but each subsequent year, they have really bad reactions. It's because the antibody titer was building up in that first year, and is now causing problems in years after!
The exception to this is if you're really really allergic--then you'll have an allergic reaction on your first exposure since your antibody titer will zoom up right away. Allergic reactions also get worse with exposure, meaning that while the first allergic reaction could only lead to a rash, one that occurs 5 years from now could lead to anaphylaxis (not that this always happens--some people have mild reactions their entire lives). This pretty much explains why people with peanut allergies often carry around epi pens--peanuts are everywhere, and it's really easy to get exposed to the point where you are in serious trouble. Peas are much easier to avoid :)
/geek talk :)
Hope that helps!