Approaching 1 Year

Allie will turn one year old in six days. It seems that her learning is just taking off. Since the last post, she has caught on to so much more. We'll try to catch you up on some of what she is up to.

First off, we should update you on her teeth. She had actually sprouted two teeth the last time we posted, but somehow we forgot that. She got her first a little after 9 months, and then the second shortly after. She still has not gotten any more than that. It seems like she has been teething lately, but we can't feel any that are about to come through. So we may be waiting a little bit longer. It will be nice when she has more teeth and is done teething for a little while.

Allie's two front bottom pearly whites

Allie learned a new trick in the last week or two that makes us all laugh. She will do a "headstand" and laugh as she looks through her legs or arms and legs. When we start laughing at her, she will laugh even harder.

It took several attempts to get the picture above. We would try to imitate her "headstands" in attempt to get her to do them. Daddy snapped the next picture when Mommy was trying to get Allie to do a "headstand".

Allie's climbing is improving and expanding to new heights. She still hasn't climbed up onto the couch or onto a chair, but she is beginning to see the possibilities that boxes and other items offer.

We wanted to share a few videos with you, but once again, Blogger seems to have it out for us. Maybe in the future we will have better luck. We'll just write about what you would have seen in video.

Allie loves carrying heavy things. It doesn't matter how awkward it is, if it is heavy, she will try to carry it. She is really pretty strong. Some of the items that she has carried around include: a bag of carrots, Daddy's work boots, her duck (not super heavy, but definitely awkward), her diaper bag, a bottle of soap (the big bottles that you refill the little ones with)... The list goes on.

Something else that Allie loves is Nikki's cell phone. She will grab it whenever she can and push on the buttons really hard. She will push so hard that she will shake and turn red. She likes seeing the picture of Mommy and Daddy (especially Daddy), and she knows that pushing the buttons allows her to see it.

Another trick that Allie has learned is to blow kisses. She caught on really quick when we taught her. And something that we didn't anticipate was that she would associate it with saying "I love you." But whenever Nikki would leave for work, she and Daddy would say, "I love you," and then blow kisses. So now when Allie hears us say, "I love you," she will blow a kiss.

Allie wants to be just like us and go up stairs one at a time. She will hold our hands and take big steps so that she can go up just like we do.

Now for a few more random pictures.

Mommy and Allie

Laughing and being goofy on Mommy and Daddy's bed (notice Mommy's cell phone in her right hand)

Allie's Pigtails

One thing I forgot to mention above: Allie is learning animal sounds. We can ask what a doggie says, or an elephant, or a sheep, or an owl, and she will almost always get all of those right. Her favorite is definitely the doggie's "woof, woof" (very high-pitched). She will make the sound anytime she sees a dog in a book, in real life, on TV, or even when she sees some other 4-legged animals.