12 months old!

Samantha continues to grow and change, and it is so fun to get to take part in it.  At her 12 month appointment, Samantha weighed 18 lbs, 8 oz and was about 30 inches long (I say about because S wouldn't really stay still long enough to be measured!).  She's still in the 25th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length.  So in one year she has exactly tripled her birth weight and gained almost a foot in length.  Good thing the growing slows down a little bit now!

Samantha continues to smile all the time!  We love when we come into the room to get her after a nap and she is standing in her crib and beaming at us!  

She continues to wave and clap if you ask her to do it.  And she'll hand you a toy if you ask for it and put out your hand.

She is so squirmy still!  When you pick her up and she wants to be crawling, she lifts her arms up by her head so that it's hard to get a good grasp on her.

She is still crawling soooo fast.  And she is pro at climbing right over us or any of her friends that are in her way.

But in addition this month she has gotten good at cruising and climbing. She can cruise the whole length of the couch quite quickly.  And she can even switch back and forth from cruising on the coffee table to cruising on the couch.

 And she not only pulls up on everything constantly now, but she also has turned into such a climber.  She loves climbing into her pink chair, and also loves climbing on us.  If her chair or our laps are near to the couch or ottoman, she climbs right up and gets on the furniture.  She even tries to climb off the sides of the big chair to get things off the ledge.  She especially loves my purse these days- taking things out of my wallet seems to be one of the most fun activities out there.

 She is still eating a lot, and she started on whole milk this months (I've dropped the two day time feedings since she turned eleven months- only nursing at wake-up and bedtime right now).  But she definitely is getting pickier.  Likes- mac and cheese, avocado, all fruit, eggs, pasta; Dislikes-Meat!  She literally picks the meat out of things and throws it off her chair now!  Starting to wonder about discipline now!

 Upside down, sideways, and on our shoulders seem to be her absolute favorite. Wonder if this means we'll have a little dare devil.

 This is the only shot we got of her laying next to the bear this time. She will not stay on her back!  Diaper changes and getting dressed have become an Olympic sport.  

 Samantha loves to play these days. She's playing with stuffed animals- babbling to them some.  And she's starting to really like reading- she'll sit on our laps for book after book- well at least if the books have feeling or flaps- she loves flaps these days!  She still loves her musical instruments, and has started really pushing around her wagon and taking out all the wooden puzzle pieces.  She also loves her leapfrog picnic basket.  And finally this month she's started putting things back into containers, rather than just taking things out.

 Samantha is also still loving music- she bounces up and down when music is on and moves her head back and forth. She's great with the shaker eggs and has started hitting her resonator bar with mallets to make noise.  So fun!

Can't believe we have a little toddler now!  And so ends the monthly photos!  What a great year it's been, and it's so amazing to think of all the skills Samantha has gained in the last year!