And…our baby seems to have disappeared and in her place we’ve gotten a little kid! Or so it seems these days. Baby H is growing and changing so much I can’t believe this is where we started! Our tiny, sweet baby girl is now all over the place, into everything, and full of fun!

Her first birthday is right around the corner (in just a few days!), so I wanted to make sure I got this update posted before I do her 12 month update!

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Our “state of the family” right now is this:

What we’ve learned: It doesn’t get easier. Parenting is definitely getting much more fun, but the amount of work and effort definitely doesn’t subside! It’s hard at the end of a long day to then tackle the dishes and folding the diapers (and the millions of other pounds of laundry just waiting. It never ends!). But unlike other difficult tasks in life, parenting is very rewarding. Tiring but totally worth it!

What we’re enjoying right now: All of the words that Baby H is learning! We’ve been teaching her to say “Google,” which she’s actually pretty good at! But beyond that, of course, she’s repeating a lot of things we say. She also shows more and more of what she understands – “eat it” and “put it in your mouth” when we’re feeding her, “let’s go,” “sippy [cup],” etc. Recently I asked her to put her blue ring into her wagon and she actually did it! It may have been pure coincidence, but I like to think she understood me!

What our biggest struggles are: Meal times. We chose not to do baby led weaning, and instead have gone the more traditional route with purees followed by finger foods. Recently we’ve been in transition where she wants to be feeding herself more, but she doesn’t necessarily view finger foods as a meal. Which means, she doesn’t want us to come anywhere near her with a spoon, but she also just wants to throw all of the finger food on the floor. I won’t lie — it’s been tough! But slowly she’s coming around and starting to enjoy her more “grown up” meals.

What has been Baby H’s most exciting milestone: Standing! She is pulling up on everything and is starting to really move. No walking yet but her crawling is getting faster and faster!

What we’re looking forward to: Still waiting for those first steps! I was able to be home for Baby H’s first crawls, and I hope to also be there for her first steps.