Ella 12 Month Update

Stats:

• Weight: 20 lb 6 oz - 60th percentile
• Height: 31.9 inches - 99.7th percentile  (She grew. She also cooperated.)
• Head Circumference: 17.7 inches - 53rd percentile 
• Diapers: Size 3 
• Clothing: Disney 6-9 month, Steelers 6-9 month or Steelers 3-6 month with a onesie extender, Leveret 12-18 mo onesies or 6-12 mo with a onesie extender.  Carter's 12 month dresses and 12 mo onesies. The 12 mo pants are worn like capri pants.  For actually pants she wears 18 month pants. She's been wearing 12-24 month socks for a while now. There are many shirts that are too wide. I lengthened some 12 month shirts that are still too wide but I needed to add 2-3" of length to them. 
• Weight/Length percentile: 11%

Sleep
Sleep is not good! She has woken up more times than I'd hope during the night.

She naps 1 time a day and is pretty consistent with that and goes to sleep easily. She no longer naps during runs.  She usually takes a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day. 

The past few weeks, Dave has been working late so she has been staying up late. She wants to spend more time with him so it's tough. There were quite a few nights that we got her out of her crib and she played and then later we did bedtime routine again. 

Eating
She eats food and baby snacks probably 3-5 times a day.  She eats a lot of foods that we eat. She loves to feed herself.  When we went to restaurants she'd eat the entire time. She'd start with snacks or food we brought and then share our food. She was so behaved.  I feel like she still nurses a ton and she doesn't eat actual food nearly enough. 

Lately Ella gets so lovey dovey and almost tries to eat my face or kiss my face when she's hungry. This can be wanting to nurse or wanting food. It's actually a great reminder for me before she starts screaming or crying.

Sample Schedule:
She finally has a specific nap time or more like consistent.  She doesn't have a specific nurse or food time yet though. It is so much easier to plan things now. But she isn't sleeping as well through the night though.

Some mornings I run and she no longer naps on the run. She will snack after the run.  She naps around 1. Sometimes earlier if she's tired and didn't sleep enough the night before. Sometimes it's closer to 2 when she sleeps in. If we are out and about she handles herself well and just naps slightly later. 

Dave was working late most of the month so we had a semi dinner around 5 then ate "dinner" close to 8. I blame all of Ella's inconsistencies on the fact that Dave worked so late and sometimes we'd have to pick him up.

We haven't gone to the park nearly as much because of the rain so she has actually snacked much less since she likes to snack when other babies are snacking. 

Bedtime routine is not consistent. Dave worked late and that messed her up. She really wanted to see him. I'd say there were at least a dozen days that we did bedtime routine and she was crying in her crib and we ended up getting her and letting her play with Dave more then doing a semi bedtime routine again later.  On the second nursing session she tended to fall asleep and I'd put her right in the crib.

She nurses after she wakes up most of the time and before she goes to sleep again. 

At least twice this month she woke up in the night and was up for over 2 hours. That was pretty rough. 

Oh in the morning when Dave or I are brushing our teeth, Ella brushes hers. Sometimes she tries to swap with us for our electric toothbrush.    She inconsistently gets a bath in the evening. I need to add brushing her teeth AFTER nursing to our bedtime routine but I haven't done it. 

Special Moments:

On November 21, Ella was still sick so I took her to the doctor. She had an ear infection. Well both ears. We got her antibiotics and she totally threw up the first dosage. She also stopped hating taking tylenol.
On November 22, she woke up with a 102.2 fever and it didn't even finish.  Giving her medicine was quite an ordeal.
On November 23, her 5th tooth cut through. (top left)
On November 24, I'm pretty sure her 6th tooth is there. (Bottom left)  She started making turns pushing her walker around. 
On November 27, she crawled into the shower and spilled body wash everywhere. Dave had one bottle sitting on top of the other to pour it all in.  She fell off the bed and just landed on her butt.
On November 28, she signed "more" to get more french toast. She pointed to her tummy and her leg when asked.  She used a plate well when eating. She walked a few steps to steal my tablet off the desk.
On November 30, she took steps again.
On December 2, she pushed the power button on my desktop and turned it off.  She semi choked on a grape then got mad when I took the other half away.  She took a few more steps again.
On December 4, she took her shirt off herself (when we were undressing so the timing was right).
On December 5, she discovered pulling the toilet paper off the roll. 
On December 6, she stood and walked to the desk on her own. She had a transfer to her crib from the car and actually slept. She walked the entire way to the park while holding my hands. She was so proud. Then she became an amazing walker later. I think that gave her confidence.  Just before she went to sleep she pointed at me and said "I love you."
On December 7, she stood unsupported for about a minute. She pulled toilet paper again so  I knew I had to move it. This was the third day in a row that she called "mom" to get my attention.  She clapped at touchdowns. 
On December 9, she took steps to the couch without even being prompted.  So she's starting to just walk just because. 
On December 10, she waved bye for real but it was delayed. She saw some Christmas presents and played with them in the packages.  She did an awesome job standing. 
On December 13, she had her first bath in the big tub at home. 
On December 15, she walked to me from her table (unprompted).
On December 18, she held up a book and said "read it."  I asked her if she wanted more and she said, "I do." She stole my milkshake and loved it. I taught her about ketchup and she loved it.
On December 19, she put the circle in the shape sorter twice. She got into her picnic table herself.  She walked pretty far in the living room without any prompting. 
On December 20, she didn't want Matt to leave and tried to close the door when he was leaving. She had her first cow's milk. She got out of the picnic table herself. She stood eating cheese just standing there like it was no big deal.

Development:
She has waved more times but not all the time.   Her goodbye wave is quite delayed. But at least she's consistently waving bye even if it is delayed.
She shakes her head no now. 
She has continued to help us dress or undress her. We tell her to help get her arm out and she does. She pulls her shirt off after both arms are out and then I try to get her to drop it in the hamper which has happened more this month. Sometimes I'm taking off her PJs and we aren't putting it in the hamper and she seems distraught when she can't put it in the hamper.  Being a pro at putting on her sleep sack has helped her put her arms into the sleeves of her jackets. 
She's way more talkative this month. As the month has progressed, I've noticed her trying to repeat some words that we say.
Ella has expanded her ability to reach things on tables and couches. 
She has better learned to climb up onto things like she would to a step stool.
She is now a pro at holding on to something while standing and bending down to pick something up off the ground without having to sit down first. 
She has started walking unprompted for just a few steps at a time.
She still only stands by herself if she doesn't realize she is standing but she stands more often this month. 

Other Tidbits:
Likes
She loves Poly.
She loves to accomplish something new.
She loves turning on light in her bedroom. It has a string to pull to turn it on and off.  As the month went on she got better at being able to let go of the string without turning it on and off 15 times. 
She likes to dance. She likes to dance to music videos. She likes to watch them to learn how to dance then do it. We call it jamming and she's always jamming! She likes to just watch music videos. I haven't turned them on as much this month so then it's a real treat when they are on.
She loves peek-a-boo. She likes to cover her face and you say "Where's Ella?" and then she uncovers her face and you say "There she is" or "There's Ella" and she gets so excited. If you cover your own face with a blanket and say "Where's Mommy?" she will uncover you and get so excited.
She likes to clap! 
She likes to stand holding onto something. 
She likes to walk with her walker or while holding onto furniture. She likes to hold onto someone's hands and walk around too. Sometimes she likes to walk without holding onto anything. 
She likes to "share" but then takes it away. She isn't so good at letting go so you actually have to grab it.
She seems to really enjoy talking with her hands (when she's in the high chair,  the car, and sometimes at home). I really wish I knew what she was trying to say because it sounds very similar every time.
She loves to visit her buddies (friends). When we are going out to the car if I tell her we are seeing her buddies she gets all excited.  She gives hugs and kisses to her buddies when leaving too!
She especially likes if she crosses a barrier like getting into the hallway. Then she giggles like she knows something is up.
She likes to close the gate and laugh. If I'm in the kitchen she's a lot better being in the living room if the gate is open. Sometimes she comes over and closes and opens the gate though. 
She likes to talk and smile at us. 
She likes it when I sing to her which sucks because that cheers her up a lot but songs are hard and I definitely won't sing if anyone else is in the house.
She loves to squeal really loud when she's close to Poly. (This scares Poly away so then Poly doesn't get her fur pulled.)
She loves to grab everything and put it in her mouth. 
She really loves to eat paper and kleenexes.
She likes to eat actual food. She much prefers to be able to feed herself over eating purees. 
She likes to swing. She likes to be thrown around. She loves to be dead lifted. I think she likes all things that are like a dare devil. She also loves the slide.
She likes to accomplish something new and then she gets so excited.
She likes to drink out of all the other babies' cups. Even if her cup is similar, she wants whatever isn't hers. 
She likes to ride on your shoulders. She also likes to be held upside down. 
Ella likes to get things when you ask her to. 
She loves books. She loves to be read to and loves to flip through the pages herself. 
When you start singing When you're happy and you know it she goes from screaming and hating a diaper change to clapping and being happy. Sometimes she gets so ahead of herself that she claps 2 times just when you say "When" to start the song. Dave sometimes asks her if she's happy (well he sings this) and then she claps twice.
When eating, Ella likes to take her cup and stick it beside her in the chair. She loves pulling it back out to eat from it. Also if she doesn't like something, she moves it to the corner cupholder circle on the high chair tray.
Ella enjoys walking a few steps to me and then giving me a big hug.

Dislikes
She hates if she's crawling towards you and you change directions or walk away from her.
She doesn't like it when it hurts.
She doesn't like to be hungry or tired. She doesn't seem to like to go to sleep though.
She hates when you take something away from her that she shouldn't have and protests! She cries thinking she'll get it back but I don't cave most of the time.
She hates when I leave her in any way possible. She cries when I go to the other room. 

Fun Facts
Longest time sleeping: 13 hours 35 minutes  (815 minutes) 
Days with a sleep greater than 5 hours: 29(November 30)
Diapers used (from December 1-20): 6.1 per day (increase from last month)
Time spent nursing (from December 1-20): 73 minutes (1:13) per day (decrease from last month)
Feeding average per day (from from December 1-20): 0.7 oz (increase from last month) (this is just pumped milk)
Time spent sleeping (from from November 1-20): 13.5 hours per day  (increase from last month)
Nights she did not sleep through the night!: 10 

Favorite Toys
Maracas
Space Duck
Batman car (especially the container)
Anything that is a container to take stuff out of and put stuff in
Football
Owl Nightlight
Talking Dog (that talks about body parts)
Blocks
Walker
Books (I count them as toys) 
My camera (not a toy but she thinks it is)
My phone (not a toy but she thinks it is)
Toy remote
Remotes
Table Toy thing
Toy Smart Phone
Balls
Everyone else's toys at the park

Favorite Songs
All of Me
If You're Happy and You Know it
Almost all songs when Dave sings them to her
Shake it Off
Bang Bang
Happy
Songs with a beat!

Favorite Books
Little Pea
Trains go (prefers it when Dave reads it to her)
But really she loves ALL books. Some books she just likes to hear 4 times in a row.

My Update
I'm still not sure what to even say anymore. I still have a bigger belly than I used to.  I feel like recently my love handles are big again too. 

I took all the pictures 1 day early because I knew her birthday party day would be hectic.

Overall Ella likes all new toys but she still keeps going back to old ones. She's such a joy to be around. I cannot believe she is a year old. I can't believe how much she's grown. She's like a little person. I can't imagine life without this cutie. She's so smart. (But also babies in general amaze me so maybe they'd all seem smart no matter what but I like to think she's smarter than the average.)  Ella had her birthday party on her birthday and hopefully I'll get to making that post soon.