Since Marina just turned 1 yesterday (which blows my feeble mind) I wanted to circle back on my ‘update’ series so that I can remember her quirks and stages, as I’m sure she will grow out of them quickly. This might end up being more for me than for you, but as I realized when planning a baby shower recently, it can be hard to remember the developmental stages of a baby once they grow up. I want to have a record of her first word, the age that she walked etc., so that I can remember for future children, but also for when she gets married and has a baby of her own!
Let’s start with the key questions from previous updates:
How big is Marina?
Marina weighs just about 17 lbs, which is still on her tiny growth curve. I do feel like she lost about a pound over the past week as she was sick with a fever and had no appetite for a full week. But her hair is growing and so is her belly, so we’re not worried!
{Marina is wearing one of my favorite organic baby brands, Art & Eden}
What is her sleep schedule like?
Around 10 months she had a few weeks of waking up screaming in the middle of the night, inconsolable. The only way she would sleep is if she cuddled with me in bed, and sometimes that wouldn’t even work. I crawled into the crib with her one night and after a few hours I crawled out once I was sure she was passed out. It wasn’t related to teething or anything, so I assumed it was just a sleep regression like the books said. Since then, she has slept steadily from about 7:30pm to 6:30am. I make her stay in her crib until 7am even if she’s crying because I really need that extra time to get ahead of my schedule for the day. I’m hoping that eventually she will sleep until at least 7, or play with dolls or toys until it’s time to leave the crib.
What about her developmental milestones?
Teeth: Marina has two bottom teeth, and is thisclose to getting 4 upper teeth. She is really good at eating however, and manages to chew pretty difficult things fully, before trying to swallow.
Fine Motor Skills: I have zero comparison, but I think she is pretty good with her fingers, picking up small items. We cut her strawberries very tiny and she loooooves feeding herself, so I think this is how she has the practice that she does.
Crawling: Marina crawls very fast, and is able to go down the large stair case on her tummy, which has made my life so much easier, since she can manage the few little steps in our living room much better now!
Standing/Walking: She is standing and can balance for a few seconds by herself, but she hasn’t really tried to walk by herself. We hold her hands and sometimes she’s into it, but often times she fights to sit down and crawl instead. Mr. R thinks she’s a week away from walking at all times, but seeing that it’s been a few weeks of that, I’m less confident. I think it will be another month or two.
Talking: Her undisputed first word is ‘dog’ as it’s the first word we know she uses at the right occasion, pointing at dogs on walks and yelling ‘dog!” She talks a lot saying things like ‘dada’ and ‘up’ and something that sounds like ‘wasssatt?” but so far, nothing else seems like it’s used in the right way.
Eating: Marina loves anything we adults eat, so as fabulous as purees were for a while, she’s screaming if she’s not eating when we eat, and what we eat. It’s been a little tricky and I’ve had to give her bread at the dinner table more than I want to to keep her occupied if we’re eating out, but as soon as she has more teeth I think it will get easier. She loves eating noodles, burgers, mini frozen vegetables from trader joes, cauliflower gnocchi and fruit!
{Marina is wearing super soft pajamas from Clover Baby & Kids}
What are her favorite toys/activities?
Her favorite activity hands down is going on the swing at the park. She’s loved this for months because she absolutely loves the wind in her hair. She also loves going on walks to the dog park, for the obvious reason that she goes nuts screaming and pointing ‘dog! dog! dog!’ every few seconds.
As for toys, she’s been into board books with something to pull, flip or move. Again, I think this is great for her motor skills, but she also really enjoys the interaction of the activity with me. There are a few books in particular that have been game changers for us, as she will do them again and again which makes them awesome for traveling! She also really loves music and sound, and I know some parents have issues with toys that make noise or sing, but I can’t imagine Marina without them. I have also included a few of her favorites in the round up as well. She loves pushing buttons and seeing the reaction of sound and lights, and she is starting (after a few months of demonstrating) to play on her xylophone as well. It helps that I always do a crazy dance when she plays it to encourage her, so she knows that playing on it makes her mommy do funny things!
She also loves her activity center at my parent’s house, and she opens and closes the doors, plays with the moving beads. and walks around it in circles. She also loves anything small and round; we have a few small round blocks, and plastic easter eggs, and she will crawl around the house with one in each hand!
I worry that I haven’t read enough to her, because she seems to have a short attention span with books, other than ones that she can play with. I am hoping that this is just a stage, but as usual, I have no comparison for it! Any advice on this would be helpful!
