Wow! That's one of my favorite words that Savannah says. The word is perfectly suited to her 1 year old personality. She's amazed by the world around her and loves to explore it. She impresses us developmentally every single day and she's so tall that people usually think she's much older (15 months-2 years is a common range). Today we had her "one-year well visit" with Dr. Laura. She is almost 23 lbs, 31.5 inches tall (off the charts) and has a big head like her daddy (48 cm). She was all smiles in the waiting area playing with one of those wooden toys with all of the moving parts, but asserted herself by protesting the idea of going back to the check-up room. She spent the entire visit shifting back and forth between her usual happy-go-lucky self and the tyrant she knows how to be when she's not getting her way. The tyrant did not want to be weighed, measured, or temperatured. She didn't want to have her heart rate checked or her ears, and she really didn't want to have shots. The finger prick went okay because she got to play with the "big-girl" band-aid until she tore it off :).
Let's get caught up on the last 8 months shall we?
First, the excuse for why there hasn't been a post in forever. Mommy bought a fitness franchise. I am the proud co-owner of the San Carlos/Redwood City Stroller Strides (aka Stroller Strides Mid-Peninsula if you're searching for us on facebook). Its been great for both of us. I get to use my brain to develop and run the business while Savannah gets to interact with all kinds of other kids from 6 weeks to 3 years. We've met some great buddies that are all in the same new world, the closest to heart are my partner Sara and her daughter Cielle. The four of us have trek'd through the last 8 months together, encouraging each other all the way. Its been a FABULOUS ride. (more on that later)
It'd be hard to completely catalog 8 months of Savannah's life, so I'll try and get some milestones down. She pulled herself up to stand at about 5 months and couldn't wait to walk. She started taking multiple steps in her 8 month and walking at about 10 1/2. Her first room-crossing stroll was in a hotel in Kirkland (probably had something to do with the confidence building carpet). Now she's running and climbing, sure to be an athlete. We're working on stairs; she's great at climbing upstairs but refuses to climb down the backwards baby way.
Her initial favorite food was avocado, she couldn't get enough of it. She also loves turkey and sometimes can't get it in her mouth fast enough. Other faves are cheese, freeze dried fruit (especially apples, pears and strawberries), Strawberries and Blueberries (especially when at the farmer's market or grocery store) and Seaweed. She has not been a fan of any veges I make unless I hide them behind avocado (with the exception of potato and sweet potato), but loves the store bought stuff. Recently we've been testing out big people food. Beef doesn't not seem to be a favorite, especially when combined with spinach, but she likes chicken, tomato-ey pastinas, mac 'n cheese, and as of today potato salad. She likes goldfish crackers, but not the organic kind, and she enjoys all kinds of "puffs" (baby sancks).
She loves being outside. She wants to be held up to the trees so she can pull their leaves off, then tries to put them back. She loves to pick flowers too. When we were going through the rainy season (which just ended this year), she would point outside and say "dat". I felt so bad that we weren't going outside much, so a few times I took her out to feel the rain on her hands and face, which she didn't mind a bit. She also doesn't mind the wind, which surprised me because I can't stand it (I get that from my Grandma Joy, who Savannah is named after). When its super windy and we're running around the park with her in the stroller she makes a delightful "Ahhhhhh" sound. I'm glad since we're doing this a lot with my new business.
She is a great dancer and loves to bounce her knees to the song lion walker (a hand me down from her friend Maddy) makes. The song is pretty much a constant in our house. Its either that or the Winnie the Poo choo choo train. If you tell her to play the song, she understands and starts it up, no matter what the aparatus, including a little play yard piano that is in Daddy's office. She started responding to the about 11 months. Before she could walk the music table was her favorite and Rick and I were constantly humming "ba-du-ba-du-ba-de-beep-bop" because that was her favorite thing to flip on.
We've taught her a couple "baby tricks" since putting the pacifier in her mouth all that time ago. She can do squats with mommy on command and she responds to "What's your favorite hamburger" with "Dub-a Dub-a" (which we'll put the kabosh on soon). She's also taught herself so many things; she's a little sponge when it comes to learning from watching us. One day when she was probably in her 9th or 10 month she started wiping her hands together when Rick said "Mommy is washing her hands". She started waving in response to hi and bye when she was 6 or 7 months.
In the past couple months she has become an awesome and frequent hugger. It started with her teddy bear "Veronica" in the car seat one day. I looked back and she had wrapped both of her arms around Veronica and was hugging her as tight as she could. In the last month, she's moved on to people. I'd like to think that was also learned by the sponge method, but then I'm just tooting my own horn (along with daddy's). She loves to hug other babies (who many times are a little scared) and the other day she walked open armed right to a man reading a book at the airport seeking a hug (he looked a little scared too).
I'm sure there's much, much more to say, but I'm off to finish putting together Savannah's new slide for her birthday. I hope that I am able to keep this up better in the months to come!
