The Usticks: june 15th ... 1st birthday

I cannot believe Riley is ONE! What a big year this has been. A lot of the first few months are quite a blur. It's been fun to watch Riley grow and develop (especially from months 10 and up ;) You spent quite a big chunk of your first year awake... can't blame you though.. we're super exciting people! Ha ha! You really began crawling a day before you turned 10 months old, and wow.. that milestone really just did wonders for you. You started napping longer than 30 minutes at a time and you started sleeping all night about a month ago. And you've been SO much happier in general. We always said you just didn't like that "baby stuff." You wanted to move around and have fun. So with that, I'll start the recap of the last month!

12 months old!

you're still in the same size clothes and diapers (23 pounds 7 oz~80%ile and 27.75" tall~50%ile)
you take two naps a day (anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour)
you sleep all night (woo hoo!) You go to bed around 730 and usually crawl around your crib for 30 minutes or so.. and wake up anywhere from 645am on. I'll take it! I remember the days quite well where anytime I would set you in your crib you'd just cry and cry and cry and only sleep for 30 minutes.. and then wake up crying again. And wake up 3-5 times a night until month 9. Phew! Makes me tired just thinking about it.
you can wave when you hear the words "hi" and "bye bye"
you can clap
you LOVE LOVE LOVE dancing to music.. you get the biggest grin on your face and your eyes get all squinty and you start bouncing up and down. Avery has even joined in the fun when she sees you "dancing"
you love the stairs. you know that when mommy's in the kitchen, a good way to get her attention is to crawl up the stairs!
you've taken notes from Avery about water. you love it. drinking it, playing in it, it doesn't matter.
you're getting more adventurous with food.. especially when you aren't sitting in your highchair.
you're starting to recognize the words "water" and "cracker" .. in that when you hear me say them you go over and grab your sippy of water, or grab your crackers. It's so fun to watch you learn things.
you know your first word: "ball" .. you say it when you see a ball, so you definitely know what it is.
you know to shake your head "no".. you do it a lot.. especially when Avery's trying to pretend feed you things =)
you don't immediately cry when strangers look at you! We're making progress in that area. You're getting more adventurous with other kids around. You like to crawl around and play, too.
you're starting to stand up without holding on. you always get a huge grin on your face. and you're cruising furniture
i'll add more when I think of it. We've just really enjoyed watching Riley grow up the past year.. can't wait for the next year! By 2 you'll be talking away with your sis. I think you two are going to be trouble. We can already sense it. You two already can crack each other up and act goofy together. Oh boy oh boy!