Rini's First Year

It's a little late, but I wanted to share this little update of tid-bits about Rini and her first year.

So many people came to my birthday! COOL!!!

Height: 73cm

Weight: 8.8kg

Clothing size: 80cm

Shoes size: 11.5cm

Diaper size: medium

Teeth: 6, and they consist of the bottom two and the top four in the middle.

Eyes: At this point we're certain her eye color is set. It's definitely brown with strong overtones of olive green, which becomes stronger or weaker depending on many factors, like her mood, the color of the clothes she wears, and her environment.

Food: At this point, she's eating pretty much everything. We haven't tried honey yet, and I'm not in any rush to do so. She has been eating whole eggs for a while already, and she likes them well enough. We have also been giving her sips of whole cow's milk, which is the first flavor she's definitely not crazy about. She still loves broccoli, and spinach is quite popular as well. Other major likes in the food department are cheese, rice, tomatoes, strawberries, banana, apples, natto, bread, peas and corn. As for drinks, her main sources are breast milk and water, but she also likes tea. We have not really tried juices yet, but the few times we did, it wasn't popular.

Bottle: None any more. Since I was only allowed to pump breast milk at work during the first year, I can't bring home refills anymore, so my husband stopped offering it to her, and she doesn't seem to miss it. During the day she drinks water from a sippy/straw cup instead, then she gets breast milk when I put her to bed and during the night. She's also allowed to breastfeed during the weekend before napping, if she comes to me, though I feel that those times are more about comfort than actually drinking milk.

Sleeping: Our nightly ritual hasn't changed much over the past 6 months or so. Dinner is around 6PM, we start the bath around 7PM. Bath time lasts between 10 minutes to half an hour. Then we brush her teeth, and get into PJs. If she doesn't demand boobies, we have a bed time story. We're in bed ready to sleep between 7:45-8PM, when she falls asleep as she nurses. Usually around an hour after she falls asleep, she's awake again and more often than not she has a hard time going back to sleep without nursing again. After this, the next time she wakes up is usually between 11PM and midnight, then around 2AM, then between 4AM and 5AM, finally sleeping until 8-9AM. Since most times I'm in bed by 10PM, she crawls to me for nursing and we fall asleep next to each other for the rest of the night, unless my husband puts her back onto her futon.

Milestones: Let's see... She can stand up on her own, but only for a brief time. Most times she still sits down as soon as she realizes she's standing on her own. She can also walk while holding our fingers in each of her hands, and now she also leads more than follows. She can climb up stairs, and she can climb up and down our sofa chair. She can also climb in and out of her little bath basin. She's been drinking from her sippy/straw cup for some time, and she's quite good at drinking out of a regular cup. She comes to us when we call her (if she wants to), and she comes and sits in her little chair on her own for meal times. She brushed her hair just this morning, so we still have to see if that's a thing or not. She moves to music, and she claps when she's happy or feels she accomplished something. She's not afraid of heights it seems, like when we hold her up high, or throw her into the air, or if she looks down a cliff. She definitely knows who she is, and recognizes herself in pictures and videos. She actively holds a conversation with people we call on Skype. She just recently learned how to blow air through her mouth, like blowing on hot food to make it cooler, or blowing air in water to make funny sounds. She also crawls to us and holds out her arms when she wants to be picked up.

I got this mom, now stop looking at me.

Words: "daddy," "anya" (Hungarian for mom), "cici" (Hungarian for boobie), and "hi."

Favorite toys: She doesn't really have one. She loves books, likes to play with blocks and "cause and effect" toys, and doesn't much care about dolls. We have a little basket full with clips, which she loves to empty out just to put all the clips back into the basket. She also loves touching water, and trying to grab hold of the streams of the shower. She plays peek-a-boo with us all the time. I can't wait to see how she will react to legos.

Likes: She likes to pinch and bite her father in a gentle way, although she's not quite aware of her strength yet. She also loves to hug and cuddle. She loves swings, and likes to dance in our arms. She likes to explore things, and puts everything in her mouth after long and careful examination. She likes to listen to stories, and loves looking through books.

Dislikes: She is not really fond of milk, or pork chops (though that might be because it's too chewy still). Though curious, she's afraid of cats. She doesn't like new people, especially if the strangers don't take their time to introduce themselves to her. Going up to her suddenly to touch or pinch her cheeks is a sure way to make her cry. Slow, steady, and friendly is the best way to get into her good graces. You know you're good to go, when she smiles and talks to you. She doesn't like napping/sleeping in new places, and takes at least twice as long to calm her down in those situations.

Mommy update: Since I had to stop pumping at work, my milk has gone down quite drastically within a couple of days. I get sad thinking about the impending weaning period, and have tried to cherish each breastfeeding especially in the past couple of weeks. My appetite has gone down recently as well. Having to deal with a period and PMS after such a long time (arrived on the dot when Rini turned 11 months old) is also a bit bothersome, but that's life. I'm around 61-62kg, the lowest I've been in over 6 years. I just hope I won't gain too much once Rini and I are done with breastfeeding for good.

And that is all. Here's to another happy and healthy year! (^_^)v

Rini's first picture with the pink kitty - 2012. March 29th

Rini's picture with the pink kitty on 2013. March 31st.