525600 Minutes ⇒
It's been a tremendous year that has flown by and I can't believe we are already celebrating Daniella's first birthday--happy birthday, my precious baby girl! On the weekend we had a birthday extravaganza to celebrate my 35th and D's first. Thanks to everyone who came to share the day with us. Daniella had a blast and I think everyone left here with their cuteness quotas maxed out between her muppet-like smiles and the other adorable children who were here as well.
Daniella has achieved all the milestones expected in the first year and is growing bigger and more beautiful each day. She is not walking yet but I expect that is due to the speed and efficiency of her crawling. Like her papa always says "that seems like a lot of work." I don't expect her upright anytime soon but I know when she does it, she will likely skip walking and move directly to running.
She is still waking once or twice a night which is frustrating but she just downs an 8 ounce bottle of formula whenever she wakes up so I know it's not just company she wants. Plus, she goes right back to sleep after a feed so as much as I'd love her to sleep through the night, at least she's not up for hours.
She has 12 teeth so only 8 more to go. She likes to use her teeth to eat anything that's going. She particularly likes avocado, yogurt, fruit and cheese but the latter causes her to become constipated so we have to refrain from giving it to her. She enjoys eating fruit in her safe feeder too.
To my delight, most people say she looks just like me and I have felt from the start that she and I are kindred spirits. In fact the other day I was at the drop-in gym and someone came up to me and said: "so I see you've succeeded in cloning yourself." Interestingly, we have a photo of my cousin Kimberley that bears a striking resemblance to Daniella as well. The Dencer is strong in her. Then again, people used to say Elise looked like me too and now she's looking more like Erin. They change so much.
She doesn't have any words yet but she has about 12 signs: food, milk, more, help, book, bath, diaper, bunny, dog, mouse, bird, and bug. When I'm reading to her she watches me to see what sign I'm going to do and she's at the stage where she can learn new signs really quickly.
What does she love?
- Bathtime. She'd be in the bath all day if we let her but she hates water on her head so washing her hair is a bit traumatic for her.
- Being outside. If she can't be in the bath, she would be outside. She loves the park and I can't wait til she's walking so I can put her down a bit more freely. Right now she is still inclined to taste-test rocks and grass and stuff. She loves to sit in the swing and go down the slide.
- Reading books. She seeks them out when she's crawling around the house and she loves to sit and be read to. I love this too, it's one of my favourite times of the day. It's sort of the calm before the storm at bedtime--she sits and giggles as I read to her then she throws a good old fashioned hissy fit when I put her down to sleep in her crib.
- "playing" with Elise. Too bad Elise hates it.
What does she hate?
- Going to bed.
- Getting put down when she feels like being carried around.
- Having things taken away from her.
Anyway, this post is already getting way to long but ultimately it's for Daniella to read when she's older. I rewrote a song that I love from Rent in honour of her birthday. It's called Seasons of love and if you click on this link you can hear the tune on You Tube while you read what I wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj7LRuusFqo
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In teeth cut, in haircuts, in feedings and poopy diapers In inches, in pounds, in laughter, and smiles In 525600 minutes-how do you measure a first year of life? How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love Seasons of love.
525,600 minutes! 525,000 people to meet. 525,600 minutes - how can you measure the life of a baby girl so sweet?
In things that she learned, or in times that she cried. From rolling to crawling and the way that she tried. It's time now to sing out, tho the story's just begun let's celebrate Daniella who today has turned one. Remember the love! Remember the love! Remember the love! Measure in love Seasons of love! Seasons of love.