Dear Diana at 13 Months!

Dear Diana,

You are walking! You took your first steps this month. We were impressed when you did two steps at Zack's very first high school football game but then you did four on Friday night for Mimi and Mama and then on Saturday, with Zack's help and Mama and Daddy watching, you did six steps in a row! You are a big girl!

In case I have never mentioned it before, I want you to know about our special song- Summertime- the old classic from the musical Porgy & Bess. Since you were born, it is the only song that has helped you to stop fussing. I started singing it to you when you would first start fussing in the car...especially when we were stuck in traffic..you hate traffic more than Mama and Daddy do.

You became still and silent every time I would sing the song so I knew it worked. Now when I am rocking you to sleep and you are extra fidgety, I will sing the same song and you look up at me and smile and immediately calm down. The whole family has noticed this and it is completely adorable.

We went to your one year appointment and we got some great news! You are growing and you are healthy- you are back up to the 67th percentile for weight...weighing in at 22 pounds! You are up to the 44th percentile for height= 28.75 inches and your head is still huge (big brain!) at the 93rd percentile!

The doctor said we can take you off of the Prilosec and see how you do. We are at the four day mark and you seem to be ok although you have woken up the last few nights (which I think is either a food or teething issue though)

The doctor also gave Mama and Daddy homework and said you can be on all milk now AND he wants you to eat all table foods- whatever we are eating. Sounds easy right? NO! For breakfast, we were off to a good start, because you enjoyed your first scrambled egg with some bananas. It was downhill from there though. You did not like chicken we ground up for you or the green beans (and you LOVE those foods when they are the Gerber brand)...dinner proved to be even more challenging and we are still working through these issues.

What I don't think the doctor realized is that you only have one tooth so it is still very hard for you to chew chunky pieces of food...so after talking it through with Daddy and Mimi and Papa...we have decided to keep the foods soft until you have more teeth. Because of chunkier food this week, you have choked six times and Mama can't handle that stress!

So...we are going to do eggs a few days/week with some fruit and on the off days, we will do cereal and fruit. For lunch, we will continue with a Gerber veggie and either Gerber fruit or our fruit. For dinner, we will combine Gerber and our foods to make sure you get enough protein, starch and veggies. In between, we will continue with the Graduates snacks as you love them and they are very nutritous!

Oh some more good news...you are becoming a pro with your Sippy Cup!!! We are so proud of you. It is heavy and you do a great job drinking from it AND now tipping it just enough to get your milk :)

You enjoyed your 2nd (even though your first trip you could barely see last year!) Apple Picking and Raspberry Picking adventure with Mimi and Papa last week! You were biting into apples like you had been your whole life...just precious. Mimi and Papa also told us how much you enjoyed the raspberries (as if we couldn't tell with all of the stains all over your clothes! Daddy got them out with Shout though of course)

You continue to love Sesame Street and Elmo and your favorite thing to do is climb all over the place! You are keeping us all on our toes but we wouldn't have it any other way!

I love you my Baby Bird!