Alisa is ONE Year Old Today!!

It is hard to believe that Alisa is now ONE YEAR old! She survived her first year without any major mishaps. What an exciting--and tiring--year it has been...full of many new things for all of us!

Alisa's eyes are still blue so there's a good chance they will stay that way--hooray! I love blue eyes. My eyes and Craig's eyes are hazel (green with brown around the center, to be exact).

Alisa gained only 2 oz this month--she went from 21 lbs 11 oz to 21 lbs 13 oz. She grew about an inch taller, making her 29 1/2 inches. She is in the 50th-75th percentile (closer to 75th) for weight and height, which surprised me because she is so much chubbier than all the babies I've seen around town so I thought she was above the 75th. Her hair is longer with even more curls by her neck, but there's still not enough on top to put in a barrett or little pigtail. She has 4 teeth coming in at once on the top (with one further along than the rest). She helps us dress her by pushing her arms through the sleeves now.

She has been sleeping 11-12 1/2 hours each night and taking 2 naps (about 1-2 hours each). She has been protesting naps recently but usually only for 30 seconds, starting right after we put her in bed and are leaving the room. We put her on her back and she used to roll over right away and get comfy while sucking her thumb, but now she sits up right away and cries really hard and loudly.

She has enjoyed all the food we have given her--she didn't want a large amount of baby food in a sitting at the beginning of the month, but by the end of it she wanted a lot most of the time (even after an 8 oz bottle). She especially loves finger foods. We finally started feeding her some food from our plates (chicken, steak, tomatoes, sweet potato fries, tortillas, mashed potatoes, pasta, etc.) and she really enjoys that. I know she will now come begging for us to give her some of our food when she sees us eating it (just like our dog Minga does) since she's tasted the goodness. We will be introducing her to whole milk this week and make the switch away from formula and the bottle. She's learned how to drink water and juice from a sippy cup.

Alisa still pays attention to little details--she will find the smallest speck of dirt on a hard surface or piece of fuzz on the carpet and pick it up. She knows where certain foods and toys are kept so she points to them (or the area they are kept) when she wants them. If she sees an object she wants, she will often cry if she doesn't get to have it right then (oh boy).

This will be my last monthly post about Alisa. If you want to keep up with her happenings from now on, you can go directly to her website (which is updated frequently). The link to it is in the "links" section in the right-hand column on my main page, in case you hadn't noticed it before.



Alisa loves looking at and carrying this large card that Grandmom sent for Valentine's Day:











Standing on her own (3-13-08):



Mmmm, kiwi (3-17-08):











Alisa's favorite place to stand in the office (it's Minga's favorite place too so they are often both there side by side):



Walking practice (3-19-08):



She actually stayed asleep in her carseat when we brought it in the house and she even slept for another hour because we set it in her quiet room (3-21-08):



Her shirt says, "He's not just my Daddy, he's my hero!" (3-21-08...before Craig had his morning coffee):



Yes, she sometimes wears a dress (3-22-08):



Happy Easter (3-23-08):





She seemed afraid to put her leg in the grass because she kept it up in the air like this most of the time:







Last year's Easter basket from Grandmom:



New booster seat with toy tray, which is handy in restaurants when she's not eating (3-23-08):







Craig's friend Tory gave Alisa this funny pacifier (3-26-08):

























At Maclay Gardens, which is just up the road from our neighborhood (4-01-08):













First birthday! (4-07-08):









Lying by her many presents:



Birthday card and wrapped present from Nana (Alisa enjoyed the stickers on the wrapping):







Birthday dance with Daddy (a new tradition):