one year.....365 days.....12 months....52 weeks....

danika is one year old!
 wow!~
my baby isnt much of a baby anymore...but still is in so many ways!
her birthday was aug 7th.....
and i started the day by setting my alarm so i would be awake at her exact birth minute....to take her picture!

on aug 7, 2012 at 0256 am...

 

then i went back to bed!
 mission accomplished!
on the morning of danikas birthday, we had photo shoot with jenn,
my dear sweet friend (and co-worker) who has taken pictures of both of my girls for me since they were born,
im sure she got some spectacular shots! heres a few i was able to snap with my camera, at the end...when she was so over the hat and smiling!

 

after a quick stop at my BFF's house for a short visit, it was nap/lunch time...
and then it was our last "monthly" photo shoot.
 man o man is this much more difficult to do now than it was in the beginning with a newborn that couldnt squirm away!
or try to eat her "12 MONTH"sticker...
or stand up and walk to the other side of the crib...
or...

 

roll over.....
or cry the second i lay her in her crib because she thinks i am gong to lay her down for a nap!
ahhh....good times!

 

little miss danika is 18 lbs 13 oz (15%) and is 29 inches long (50%), her head is 18 inches. 
(when she was born she was 6 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long)
she is in size 3 diapers and in either 9 month, 9-12 month, or 12 month clothes.
she has 4 teeth, two middle top and two middle bottom
and is still pretty bald! much more bald than finley was at 1. she is starting to grow more hair along the bottom (like the old man balding pattern) and is sprouting a sprig on top here and there!

 

she still isnt the best sleeper (finely is the best sleeper, danika is the best eater!) but shes never really been a good sleeper. her bed time is somewhere between 730-830- and she sleeps till 630 sharp! sleeping in is 645! at that time i breastfeed her and sometimes she goes back to sleep until about 930, but then she doesnt take a morning nap (i guess she thinks 630-930 is considered her morning nap!). if she doesnt go back to sleep after she eats, we get up and have a banana, and she plays until about 9-930...then she takes her morning nap which is about an hour to 1 1/2 hour long. when she wakes up we play and have lunch....and play a little more until about 130...then its time for afternoon nap (for both girls!). danika will sleep in the afternoon for about 2 hours (sometimes 3 if i am lucky!). then its play time, dinner time, play time, bath time...and bed time!
she sleeps on her belly with her knees pulled up underneath her and has her arm around her stuffed bear and sometimes her other arm is over her other stuffed bear too!

 

she is the best eater around! she eats all her food and then finishes off finleys too!
 i still have some pureed food in the freezer for her, but im not going to make any anymore, she wants what we are eating! and sometimes almost gets mad when i feed her "baby" food! she will turn her head into the back of her high chair if i try to give her "baby" food, she will point and grunt and then get all excited if i give her what we are eating!
some of her favorites now are bananas (just peel it for her and she eats the whole thing!), string cheese, watermelon, hot dogs, grapes, broccoli, apple sauce, macaroni and cheese, chicken, puffs, cheerios! honestly, i havent found anything that she absolutely will not eat! 
she LOVES to pick up the food off her tray and feed herself....or, take the fork/spoon from me and spoon the food into her mouth herself! she gets so excited when i let her do that! she will let me stab the piece of food, then she grabs the fork from me and eats the food, then bounces up and down and hands me the empty fork (and grunts as if to be asking "do it again!"). this is another time she turns her head into the back of her high chair...if i try to feed her and wont let her do it herself!
miss independent!
we are STILL breastfeeding! my goal was to make it to a year!
AND WE DID IT!
we breastfeed about 4-5 times a day still...when she wakes up, before each nap, before dinner, and then before bed.
i will take it day by day now...what ever happens, happens...im going to relax a bit and not be so strict on myself about pumping or feeding every so many hours.
we give her water, and she is a pro at drinking out of a straw sippy cup! 

i took her outside to take pictures....and got lots of smiles!

 

see....she does smile!
she is such a happy baby!
still a mamas girl....
wants to do everything finley is doing....
and will snuggle in with her daddy at any point in the day!

 

after naps...
and a steak dinner grilled by daddy...
danika opened her presents, with finleys help!

 

i just love watching these two interact!
 danika idolized her big sister, and finley is always watching out for danika (telling me if she is crying, giving her a toy to play with, giving her a goldfish to eat....hugging her, kissing her, pushing her, sitting on her, taking a toy she has, squishing her, shutting the baby gate when danika is on the other side and then laughing at her!)

 

after presents....
we had BIRTHDAY CUPCAKES!
danika LOVED her birthday cupcake!
and so did finley....
finely wanted to wear danikas hat (she said, "mama, my turn") so i got her 2nd birthday hat (that she wouldnt wear on her own birthday) and they both sat there in their hats and ate cupcakes as we sang happy birthday! it was so much fun!

 

after we filled up on cupcakes, i put together danikas new water table, and the girls had a blast playing and getting totally soaked!
 (i will pat myself on the back now....GREAT gift!)

 

when the mosquitoes started to try to carry us away, we cam in and changed into our pjs and played with danikas new wooden blocks! they had so much fun building up towers and knocking them down!

 

all good days eventually come to an end....
and look who slept with danikas birthday balloons...for the next several days until the balloons died!
miss finley!

 

birthday girl...
all tuckered out.
sleeping like an angel...
we love you little miss danika!
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY BABY!

 

the girls...each on their first birthday! (you may have to click on the picture to make it bigger to see everything).
its funny....
they both look not so thrilled in their party hats...then cheese real big@
they both have messy hands, faces, and high chair trays!
finley has WAy more hair!
i love my girls!

 

danika crawls like the lightening, sits up, pulls up to standing and will stand there holding on, she has started letting go and being able to stand for a few seconds before she falls!
she cruises the furniture, walks along behind push toys, and even walked with finley a few steps the other day when finley grabbed her wrist and pulled her along!
she claps, waves, puts her hand to her mouth and blows kisses (while making a kissy noise "muuuua"), she will mock me ( i stick my tongue out and then she will, i say "lalala" then she will...)
she loves me, finley, and daddy...
and the kitties too! she gets so excited if she gets to touch one of them!
she puts the phone up to her ear, and grabs the remotes and points them towards the tv and pushes buttons!
she will grab anyones shoe and then pick her foot up to try to put it in the shoe!
she will put her hands down onto finleys little step stool, and then lifts her foot up onto the stool like she is going to take a step up!
she climbs up onto finley picnic table and sits there and watches tv...or bangs on the table and then smiles at me!
she loves a balloon baby game i downloaded onto my phone for her.
she loves swimming (actually any water, pool, tub, water table, cats water bowl) and bubbles too@
doesnt like any "baby" stuff (toys, food)
 and she wants to do anything and EVERYTHING finley does!
this past year has had its challenges...fussy, acid reflux, meds, not a good sleeper,....
but its been chalked FULL OF GREAT MEMORIES!
i cant wait to watch her gown!
what does the next year have in store!?!?!?!?!?......
stay tuned!