Brandon and Kristen: 1 Year Old!!

At 12 months:

Halle is starting to become cuddly - she will lay her head down on our shoulders and puts her shoulder up and tilts her head when we are around other people...it is so sweet!
Used to like all solid food but is now becoming picky - likes peas and doesn't seem to like chocolate (definitely not her mom's eating habits which is a good thing!)
Still loves yogurt - it is the one food I can always count on besides puffs
Is nursing just at night and in the morning but I am going to wean one of those soon
Likes metal, spoons, plastic - anything that isn't a toy...we caught her chewing on the knobs on our kitchen cabinets!
She likes getting into cords, the plastic on our cords for the blinds, any paper we have laying around, the screen on the fireplace and the tv/VCR...she hasn't gotten into drawers or cabinets yet which is nice but we are still working on what "no" means
Pulls up on anything she can and likes to push things around - even the kitchen chairs!
Puts things in her stroller and then walks with it all around the house - it is really cute!
Can walk while holding on to just one of our hands - she has taken one step by herself
Climbs over us when we are on the ground and falls all of the time and doesn't cry - she only cries when she really gets hurt (like last night when she fell face first on a toy and cut her gum which bled all over!)
Weighs 18 pounds, 9 ounces (13%) and is 30 inches long (78%)
Had 4 teeth on her birthday (upper two and lower two) but then got two more uppers a couple of days later
She still drools a ton and can soak through a bib in less than an hour!
Schedule: she usually goes to bed between 7-9 (it has been later while we are doing things outside and such during the summer), will sleep until 8/8:15am then go down for a nap a couple of hours later and will take an afternoon nap a couple of hours after she wakes up from her morning nap
Wears size 3 diapers, 6-12 month clothes and is getting close to wearing size 3 shoes
Says "dada" fairly consistently but that is about it - she does say "sss" and "tss" all the time...I think she speaks Parseltongue (for those who don't know what that is, including Brandon, it is the snake language from Harry Potter!)
But, for not saying much, it is amazing how I usually know what she wants by her body language
Makes a ton of facial expressions - people say she gets that from me!
Her hair is growing so long that I have to put it in a ponytail quite frequently
She knows what to do with her brush - she will put it on her head when we give it to her!
Will watch her Bible Songs DVD with little kids singing songs for a long time while eating - it is the perfect distraction during her afternoon snack so that I can get some things done!
Wakes up and immediately grabs her Dolly and Pola and will hold onto them until we pick her up - we usually find her standing up in her crib when we go get her
Still likes baths but it is harder for me now that she tries to stand up during them!
Loves her new trike that she got for her birthday and being outside
Has also really been liking her water table and pool (birthday gifts!) on our deck during this nice weather - she likes going back and forth between them
Loves riding in our new bike trailer - she doesn't even mind all of the bumps and has found places to hold on to so that she doesn't tip over - I also like that she enjoys this so that I can get a workout with her and then use her naptime to get ready!
Also likes her new swing that hangs from our deck
Has big dimples that are so cute when she smiles
She puts her hands to her face when we say "uh oh"...she learned that from Auntie Joy and Kenzie!
Gives her baby doll hugs and likes throwing balls while she crawls around

Happy Birthday Halle girl! We love you so much and can't imagine life without you. The past year has been the best year of our lives and we know that it will only get better.

I think she knows she isn't supposed to touch the cord...look at the face! ;)

Cuddling with Dada

Loves her new swing

Halle's Birthday Week:

Opening day one of her "Birthday Box" - a candle; and got a pig pillow pet in the mail from Obaa & Ojii...thank you!

Opening another present in her birthday box - I got this idea from Cassi where for the week leading up to her birthday, she gets to open one thing in the box each day - believe it or not, I actually made the box using Mod Podge for the first time...just don't look too closely!

A "Captain Zoom Birthday" CD - I used to have the same personalized tape growing up and always remembered it so I thought I should get one for Halle too!

Playing with the things she got in her birthday box

1. Candle, 2. Shoes, 3. Captain Zoom, 4. Hairbow, 5. Dress, 6. Happy Birthday Halle book, 7. Birthday shirt

Spending time with papa...We loved having family here!

Halle's Actual Birthday:

Since we had Halle's birthday party early on the 18th, for her actual birthday, the 23rd, we had Erica, Chris and Annabelle over for pizza with my family and then went out for ice cream since Halle likes that better than cake. It was very relaxing and it was fun to just hangout. She wore her birthday dress that Great-Grandma Gigi gave her along with her matching bow and it looked adorable. Thanks Gigi!