Archive for March 8th, 2012

What I’ve learned: 1 Year

Posted at March 8, 2012 // Baby Ringl

It’s day 1 of officially having a 1 year old and I strangely feel like more of an adult… I can’t explain it, it’s weird, I know.
We are still on the 2 nap schedule with a 6pm bedtime. While nap/sleep scheduling was rough when we first started it, it was definitely the best decision we could have made! Makes for a happier Sarah, which makes for a happier everyone!
You want to know what Sarah’s favorite toys are? It’s a fun list: mom/dads cell phone, controllers to the tv/Wii/XBox, and pretty much anything we are playing with… The girl has expensive taste
Speaking of, Sarah knows how to turn the XBox on with the controller, as well as my parents DVD player.
Grandma & Grandpa Ringl got her a push-along toy and she uses it all over the house. It has done a great job at helping Sarah build confidence in her walking skills.
Oh ya, and she is officially a walking pro! Started off with 4-5 steps and now she goes until she reaches her destination. She can even do 3-point turns in the middle and come back.
When entering and exiting a room Sarah knows to turn the lights on and off.
She has started pointing at everything and “talking” as if she’s telling us what she’s looking at. I’m hoping this is an indicator that she’ll be adding more words to her vocabulary soon. It’s fun telling her what the names of things are that she’s point to. Her favorite is the smoke alarms (I’m guessing because of the green light on all of them).
We have reached the “when mom/dad eats, I want to eat that too” stage. Her most recent snacks include scrambled egg yokes, guacamole, cheerios, apples, yogurt, grape pieces, mozzarella cheese, orange slices, deviled eggs ‘filling’ (not the whites), and strawberries.
While she is able to drink from a normal cup, sippy cups are better for everyone, especially if we want her clothes to stay dry.
A quirky trait, Sarah hates organization. She empties all drawers, baskets, shelves, toy bins. She prefers a messy area. I have a feeling her future room-cleaning chore is gonna be a fun one…
If she gets excited while walking she speeds up right before she reaches you and then ‘crash lands’ into a hug. Love it
Cheerios are a great motivator to get your baby learning to walk. They also work for a quick cry-fixer!
I don’t know about other babies, but Sarah HATES being strapped into things. She is cool with her carseat, stroller, booster seat, and swing UNTIL she discovers she is buckled in and can’t get out at will. It makes for some interesting car rides and meal times.
She’s figured out how to slide down the couch to get off.
OH, how did I forget this until now… Sarah is giving kisses!! One day while playing on the kitchen floor she came up to me and put her lips to my face. I got 5 kisses that day! She may be picky with when she’ll give them, but it’s the best feeling ever when she shows this newest form of affection towards us. The first time she did it felt like the first time she smiled. Best.Feeling.Ever.!
Along with her clapping and high fives, she’s also learned to dance on command. How can everything babies do be so adorable?!
Sarah has reached the point where she knows that when she poots the noise is coming from her. She likes to look at us and laugh, which is usually kinda funny, but on one recent episode she was pooting (and then looking at me to see if I heard her) while in the bath and it turns out one of those poots wasn’t just gas… yep, we had our first ‘poop in the bath’ episode. It definitely wasn’t funny. Well, maybe after the fact it is, but definitely not during!
We are down to nursing only 3 times a day and having meals after each nursing. We have yet to find a food Sarah doesn’t enjoy munching on.
She still only has 4 teeth. Front top middle and front bottom middle.
While each month and at each stage I say ‘this is my favorite stage so far’, that fact continues to be true. Sarah is so playful and full of giggles and curiosity. I love that we are able to go out and she can interact, eat, and play.
While I sooo enjoy Sarah going to bed at 6pm, I also look forward to when we can go to church on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. We miss out on a lot of church activities and Stephen-time, but I’m definitely in no rush for her to grow up and out of this precious time I have with just her and I.

That’s it, or at least all I can think of from the past month. I’m not sure if I’m going to continue these ‘What I’ve Learned’ posts. I’m sure I probably get more out of it than anyone. I also know that Sarah learns more each and every day! Right now I’m looking forward to more of her ‘firsts’ she’ll be experiencing. We got our firsts kisses. Next up: hugs, i love you’s, beach trips, learning to run, jump, and play hide-n-seek! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely share those experiences with you, accompanied with an overload of pictures

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