As she grows... Month 12

Think this is my last birthday related post for all those (mom) who are awaiting her birthday blogs with anticipation. A few days after her birthday we headed off to the doctor for her 12 mo well visit, so I have official stats this time.

The Dr overall assessment is she's the size of a 9 month old, but like a 12-15 mo. developmentally. That truly warms this preemie mama's heart! It would be fantastic for her to be at 9 month developmental level, but to even exceed that and hear she's on track for her actual age is just AMAZING!! He said this when talking about her "words" so I know we're going to have a talker on our hands before we know it.

12 Month (9.5 mo.) Stats:

• 17 lbs (ok so she was 16 lbs 15 oz at the Dr, but weighed 17 lbs 4 oz on our home scale) 2%
• 27 inches (3%)
• 17.25% Head circumference (16%)

This girl has a big head! The funny thing to me is her head size hasn't changed much she she was discharged from the hospital and I guess what they say is true - preemie's heads grow faster than the rest of their bodies. Poor girl still has TINY feet!

Activities/Interests

• Crawling is still her favorite activity because it can get her to what she really wants to do:
• Play in the dog food
• Eat the dog food
• Play in the dog's water
• Pull out lamp cords, computer cords...really any sort of cord
• She's also really been working on her words. While most still comes out gibberish, sometimes she'll sit and have a whole conversation where she's practicing different sounds. Her favorite words are:
• Dada (by FAR)
• Baba - sometimes also comes out like ball, but not sure
• Mama (usually only get this one when she's upset)
• Whoa
• Wow
• She has pulled up a few times in the past month on shorter things -- the dishwasher, a storage ottoman, inside a box, but hasn't been able to pull up on taller things quite yet. Just this past week she has been trying to pull up on our legs, but don't try and help her - she doesn't like that!
• A few weeks ago I had a box in the den (aren't I a fun mom to give her boxes to play with?? haha) and she kept pushing it out and then shuffling her feet up to it. So she got a walker from my parents for her birthday; which she loves, but the wheels move too fast for her, so she ends up in some yoga like stretch before letting go.
• Speaking of yoga, I am starting to think babies were the real originators of it. Lydia loves to stick her hiney up in the air and do a downward dog pose. It's quite hilarious. Think she's trying to stand up, but doesn't know to do after straightening her legs.
• Lastly, food continues to be one of her favorite pasttimes. I'm starting to get sick of buying purees, but still is the best way for her to get all her nutrients. She loves finger foods and being able to feed herself, but really only likes to feed herself puffs, meat, beans, grilled cheese, pasta and yogurt bites. She spits out small pieces of fruit and veggies, so I guess the purees are here to stay for awhile.

Here are her 12 month shots with Mr Bear! She is celebrating with her hot pink tutu!

Just had to add this outtake of what happens when she pushes the walker too far out

Lydia's First Year Video

As part of Lydia's first birthday festivities, we put together a video slideshow of her first year to share at the party. I'm not going to lie, you'll probably cry. You should have seen me trying to put together the video -- looking back at her first months of life in the NICU and then coupling that with emo music... lets just say there were several times I had to take a break and have a good cry.

Even when we played it at the party, I was a teary mess and I was the one person who knew what was coming next.

She is truly a miracle and is such a blessing from God. Reflecting back on Lydia's first year, you realize just how fragile life really is and how all you can do is rest in knowing God will take care of your little girl.

I found the first song we used in the slide show from a friends blog, who had a child born with a heart defect and needed open heart surgery. Matt Hammitt wrote "All of Me" as well as many other songs on his "Every Falling Tear" CD when his son was also born with a heart defect. While Lydia never had to undergo any surgeries, the fear and uncertainty he shares in his songs lines up pretty well with our experience in the NICU and all the questions and unknowns we faced.

The second song, "Safe and Sound" by Matthew West is a sweet song about bringing your baby home and just love the lyrics with this one as well. I was familiar with some of Matthew West's other songs on the radio, but had never heard this one before. It really is so sweet!

Lastly, I had to end with something upbeat and happy -- especially since I have such an upbeat and happy little girl. Who doesn't love "Isn't She Lovely"?? Especially when its sung by the cast of Glee!!

Here is the video we made of our little girl's 1st year! Enjoy!

(Sorry its a little grainy on here for some reason, but hopefully it's not too bad to view)

BTW - this is my 100th post! What better way to celebrate than with memories of my baby's 1st year!

Sugar and Spice

Our sweet baby girl is ONE! I just can't get over it. Our little 2 lb miracle is now a speed-crawling, into everything (including the dog food), smiley, funny, giggling little girl!

We had a blast celebrating her first birthday with family and friends last Saturday. Lydia was quite the hostess greeting all her guests at the door with a HUGE smile and a little wave. She already has such a social personality. She doesn't get grumpy or anything in large groups - even if its past her nap time. She just turns on her mega watt smile and goes with the flow. Think we have a little social butterfly on our hands for sure.

Her party theme was SUGAR & SPICE (and everything nice) and we decided to have a sugar and sweets table with cupcakes, cookies, candies, and some pink lemonade. The Spice table held jalapeno poppers, buffalo chicken fingers, chips, salsa and cheese for dipping. We served what I like to call "Chicken Crack" to go with the Spicy/Mexican dinner theme. It's also VERY easy to prepare and quite yummy. You may remember it from when I blogged about it a few months ago - here.

 I went a little crazy with making decorations with the help of Pinterest of course! I made a few banners for her highchair and table displays. I also made a month by month banner (see fireplace pic above) which was a neat way to see her grow each month with her little pink bear.

After reviewing our pictures from the night, I realized I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted of all the guests and festivities, so I'm hoping some of Lydia's aunties and grandmas captured more memories than I did.

Here are a few from her getting ready, greeting the guests, cake and of course her two grandpas (Papa and Poppy). Not sure why we didn't do the same with the grandmas. Probably because the papas were hovering around the food before the party started, waiting for me to tell them to dig in :) Guess I know where she gets her good appetite from, huh?!

Happy Birthday sweet Lydia! We are so blessed to be your parents and love getting to watch you grow and mature each day. You have brought so much joy into our lives and its hard to even remember what life was like before you were born. We love you so very much!


I still have a few more birthday posts coming, so stay tuned....