RICHLAND, WASH. -- My sweet baby girl turned one this week. It's hard to believe it's been a year since she changed our lives on a cold, snowy night in Boston. We haven't stopped smiling since. What a blessing she has been to us. She has filled my heart with so much joy and happiness than I ever knew possible. It's been such a treat to be her mother. I'm a little emotional over her growing up so quickly. What happened to my precious, little baby girl?! How did time go by so quickly?! On the other hand, I am also thrilled about everything she is learning. It's been incredible watching her learn and become more independent as the days go by. She is such a sweet, happy, goofy, smart, friendly, beautiful, delightful girl who makes us smile and laugh nonstop. Life is so much sweeter with her.
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| My cute sister in law took these photos for us last month while we were in Portland. |
We mostly celebrated her birthday last week in California. We decided we needed a little getaway to somewhere warmer. We took her to the San Diego Zoo and played nonstop on the beach. What a dream week! Marin had the time of her life playing outside and running free (or trying to run free). It already feels like winter has been so long! She was in heaven chasing seagulls on the sand and seeing the animals up close at the zoo. Her favorite animal noise to make is the snake, and when we pointed one out to her she went wild! She put on a show for everyone around her. The cutest moment of the day was when one of the orangutans who was sitting right by the window turned around and starred at her. She smiled and waved at it without hesitation. She's such a friendly girl who loves to smile and say and wave "buh-bye" to everyone she sees.
We stayed at a cute little condo right on the water in Oceanside. Our view was phenomenal and Marin loved being outside every second she was awake and would protest whenever we'd bring her inside.
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| She was obsessed with this bucket, shovel and wheel barrow that the condo had for kids to play with. |
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| Isn't she the cutest? Its hard to believe she's actually slimmed down quite a bit the last few months. |
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| She loved playing with all the rocks on the beach and putting them in her bucket. |
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| Such a ham. |
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| One of my new favorite pictures of these two. |
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| She'd try to make a break for the ocean whenever we'd let go of her. |
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| She'd gasp when the cold water touched her toes and started shivering, but she kept going back. |
On her actual birthday, we didn't do much except blow up balloons for her to play with and sing to her and have cake. She loved the cake. Loved it so much that we had to take it away from her out of fear she was going to make herself sick. She complained when we took it away and I found her sitting on the kitchen floor the next morning eating the crumbs (don't judge, I just hadn't swept yet). I have video of the cake gorging that I will upload soon. It's good.
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| She kept calling the balloons balls. |
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| Playing with toys she got from her cousins. |
Twelve Month Stats:
24.8 lbs. (95%)
33 inches tall (99%)
18.25 HC (85%)
Eating: This really shouldn't be a category on here anymore. She eats everything.
Sleeping: Wakes up at 5:30 a.m. generally and cries for a minute or so and then goes back to sleep usually until 7 or 7:30.
Wearing: 12 -18 month old stuff still.
Tricks and New Skills/Interesting tidbits:
- Marin wants to eat all by herself. She wants to hold the fork/spoon and make a mess with things before somehow managing to get a bite or two in her mouth.
- She waves at us every few minutes to say hi. It makes me laugh.
- She laughs a lot more now at random things. Recently, I've been reading her a certain book and she'll start smirking or laughing at certain spots. It's pretty cute. And reminds me that she is human and now understands so many things. Amazing.
- Whenever we go to baby story time at the local library, she goes around and waves and smiles at everyone.
- She likes to bring her "behs" (bears) and baby doll everywhere we go.
- I'm concerned we've created a monster. There may have been a time or two (who's counting?) when we've shown her a few Sesame Street YouTube videos. She'll come over to us when we have the laptop open, or will pickup the laptop and bring it to us, reciting, "A, B's" over and over. "A, B's" is referencing the ABC videos, of course. Oh dear. She cries when we turn it off.
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| She just looks so cute sitting there like a real person. How is she real?! |
- Separation anxiety is in full swing. Ugh. It is so annoying. But sometimes cute. But mostly annoying.
- This girl has her animal noises down pat. She can tell you what a snake, cow, dog, sheep and horse say. It's really darling. You can check out some of those skills in this video:
This girl loves life so much that it is inspiring. I love watching her get excited about such simple things. Like playing in boxes. She is such a happy, joyful little girl. It warms my soul to have her in my life. I can't wait to see what this next year brings.
