ONE YEAR.

It still seems surreal to me.  An entire year has gone by since I gave birth to our sweet girl in San Antonio.  Hard to believe that this time last year, we were still in the hospital; Nic was almost finished with his Nurse Transition Program, and we were preparing to make the drive back to Lubbock.  Since then, we've moved across the country, made new friends, Nic started a new job, we joined a new church and small group, and have gotten pregnant again.  My, what a year. 

The thing that's most surreal about it is how far Audra has come.  The cliche "they grow up so fast" definitely rings true.  She's really not much of a baby anymore.  She's a toddler.  She's walking, and doing things on her own.  Of course, she needs my help with nearly everything; but not like she did when she was first born.  When Nic and I sang "Happy Birthday" I felt a little tear-y just thinking about how she'll never be the tiny little girl we brought home again... from here on, she only gets bigger.  Of course, I know that's a good thing, it's all just happened so fast.

All about our newly-one-year-old-Audra:
Motor Development: 
She's walking, pretty much like a pro.  She can cross the entire length of the house, and definitely gets to where she's going.  She walks a lot more than she crawls.  Crawling is still faster, though, so if she's on a mission she'll resort to crawling.  

Talking:
She can say:  mama, dada, hi, bye-bye, nigh-nigh (night-night), bobble (bottle), and whoa.  The funniest of these is "whoa."  Her timing with it is perfect.  Just a few minutes ago, she vigorously shook the bag that holds all of her plastic Easter eggs (still a favorite toy despite it not being Easter anymore), and all the eggs went flying everywhere.  She looked around and said, "Whoa."  On her birthday, she was being crazy and shaking her head back and forth really fast (can you say too much sugar?).  She lost her balance and fell backwards then immediately rolled to her stomach and said, "Whoa."  She's quite the crack-up.  I don't know where she got "whoa," since I don't think I say it too often, but maybe I'm wrong. 

Favorite "toys":  Of course, most of her favorite things to play with are non-toys (which is why we don't buy all too many of them ourselves).

• Her very most favorite thing to play with is the dishwasher.  She loves to splash around in the wetness that falls out of clean dishes.  She will also take out most of what she can reach while we're loading the dishwasher... which is why we now load it while she's sleeping or eating, or super distracted.  (Though as soon as she hears us doing dishes, she races over to the kitchen haha.)  
• Her next favorite thing to play with is probably any paper product, most specifically toilet paper.  It really sucks if we accidentally leave the bathroom door open haha.  
• After that I would say she loves things with buttons; especially any remote or phone she can get a hold of. 
• Of her toys, she will sometimes play with the little blocks we got her for her birthday.  She enjoys putting them in and taking them out of the bucket.  (She generally enjoys putting anything in and taking anything out of a space.)  
• As mentioned above, she still likes to play with her Easter eggs.  
• She has figured out how to gracefully get out of her little kid armchair that her Lolli (Nic's mom) got her.  She used to just throw herself out of it, which was funny to watch.  Now she knows how to get both feet on the ground and stand up.  So lately, she's been doing that over and over.  
• She often opens her books and will "read" them.  This is super cute to watch. 
  
  It's been a lot of fun to watch her learn through play. 

Eating:
She is trying nearly everything we eat, not always liking everything at first.  We rarely feed her pureed food anymore.  She's good at feeding herself finger foods, and is getting decent as using a spoon when we're in a mood to let her get messy.  She's not a huge fan of vegetables unless they're seasoned in some way, and I don't blame her.  ;)

Temperment:
She's a pretty easy-going baby.  She wakes up happy, and will stay happy throughout the day if all of her needs are met within a reasonable amount of time.  She really enjoys getting out of the house and being around people.  She's most in her element when she's interacting with others.

Sleep:
She takes one nap a day around 11 or 12, and sleeps for 1.5-2 hours.  She goes to bed between 7 and 8 and sleeps about 11 hours straight.  We've found a correlation between amount of calories consumed in a day and the time she wakes up in the morning.  The more we feed her, the later she sleeps.  She's usually awake by 6:15 or 6:30; 7:00 or 7:30 if she ate a lot the day before.
  
One whole year of getting to know this girl.  I couldn't dream up a more perfect child for us if I tried.

Audra 5 months

Weight: 12 lbs, 13 oz. 
Yep, she's our little pip squeak!  She's definitely on the small end, but have you seen her parents?  Or grandparents for that matter?  There's not much hope for her in this department.  She may be small, but she's incredibly strong!  And that's all that really matters in this department.  :)

Length: 24.5 in.
Again, on the smaller side.

Muscular Development:
Hands:  She's grabbing everything all the time!  If I'm not careful, she'll surprise me and grab things I don't want her to have (like my water glass that I'm holding in one hand or the tiny bowl that contains her rice cereal).
Arms:  They don't flail as much as they used to.  We're leaving one arm out of the swaddle for now, and it's working well.  We hope to have both arms free around 6 months.  She's gotten used to really extending those arms to get things that are seemingly out of reach.  

Feet:  She's definitely discovered them, and she holds them quite often.  She hasn't started eating them yet.
Legs:  These suckers are STRONG!  She loves to stand, and can do so by only holding onto our hands.  The balance is wobbly, but improving every day.  She can stand next to her crib and support herself with the crib bars.  She hasn't gotten brave enough to stand at arms length (i.e. she pretty much "hugs" the crib), but it's awesome that she can support herself.
Body:  She can fully roll belly to back, and also back to belly.  She can sit unsupported for long periods of time.  When laying on her belly, she's starting to push herself forward with her legs to get things in front of her.  I anticipate having a mobile baby very very soon!

Sleep:
Here's the tricky subject! Sleep had been pretty horrible for about the last month or so.  She went from sleeping completely through the night to waking once in the night, to waking twice, then waking three times.  And she was waking three times pretty consistently for a while.  We attributed it to pain from teething (more about that in a minute).  We talked with a nurse and were OKed to give her a higher dose of the Baby Tylenol.  We've only given her the higher dose twice now.  The first night she only woke up once, around 3.  The second night (last night), she only woke up once at 5:45.  I'll take waking up once over waking up 3 times ANY NIGHT!  Knock on wood that the good sleep continues.

Teething:
I can't feel any bumps in her gums, but I can see the outline of the little teeth in the sides of her gums.  She's drooling like crazy, and often whines when nursing.  She goes to town on her Sophie giraffe and other teethers.  We try to ease the pain as much as possible by giving her cool washcloths, numbing strips (only occasionally b/c I'm not convinced they work), and when really bad or before bed (when it seems to flair up), we give the Tylenol.  Nic's mom ordered a teething necklace for her, and it should arrive before too long.  This is a necklace that will get warmed by being against Audra's neck, and supposedly releases a chemical that is an anti-inflammatory.  I've read many accounts that say this necklace works, and I'm willing to try almost anything to ease my stinker's pain.  I hope it helps!  Once she's 6 months, we'll give her Baby Ibuprofen, since it reduces inflammation as well.

 Personality:
As long as she's getting to interact with someone, or less often- something, she's a happy girl!  She definitely prefers people interaction over her toys.  She loves to be held, even by strangers, and is very smiley.  She's least happy when she's awake and people are around but not paying attention to her (as in a CrossFit scenario).  Every now and then she'll be a simple observer, just still and watching, but most often she prefers to be interacting.  She loves when we blow on her belly or make growl noises in her neck.  She likes it when I kiss her feet and tickle her back.  She has started to laugh and it is the most wonderful sound I've ever heard.
She's not generally hard to please.  I've found if I just stay in the moment with her, interact with her and watch her cues, we can go a whole day without crying.  Sometimes I get sidetracked doing other things, though, and it's those moments she starts to whine and cry as if to say, "Pay attention to me!"  She sure does know how to get her way already.  ;-)

I can always try for that one last picture, but when she says it's nap time, IT'S NAP TIME!  ;-)

Appetite:

She nurses 6-8 times a day for 20-30 min.   We were having issues for a while due to her preferring the bottle, but I was patient and within a week things were back to normal.  :)  The only thing that hinders her eating now is her sore gums.  I think sometimes it hurts her to get started on the boob, but once she gets going she seems to be ok.  She bits sometimes, but I know it's only because it feels good on her gums.  I yell, "No biting!" and she instantly lets go.  I know she's not trying to hurt me.  I feel bad for my baby being in pain. 

This was actually the very first shot of this little photo session.  Of course, she spits up on the backdrop and her outfit!  

In all, I'd say things couldn't be better!  She's well out of her '4th Trimester' (if you aren't familiar with this concept from Happiest Baby on the Block, I suggest you look into it!  If you have or are going to have a baby, that is).  She's "generally accepted life" and I think she likes it!

We love her, and thank God every day for this little blessing He's given us.  Sure, days are more exhausting and nights more tiresome, but I can't imagine not having her to love.