The Mayes Family: One Year!

My oh my, our little baby girl is one. I don't even know where the time has gone! True to fashion here is an update on her twelfth month of life and pictures from the last month (which is a total blur so the update is short but there are plenty of pictures):

Charlotte weighed in at 22.3 pounds and measured 31 inches tall at her year appointment. Still in the 97th percentile for her height and in the mid-80th percentile for her weight (which is up from where she used to range).
She has six teeth now! Four on top and still just the two on the bottom. We have been brushing her teeth since she cut her first tooth and the more teeth she gets the more she loves brushing her teeth!
Her vocabulary is growing daily. In addition to her previous words ("mama", "dada", "bubba", and "yeah"), she is now saying her versions of "grandma", "doggie", "duckie", and, most recently, "hi". She also just sometimes says "mom" instead of "mama" to get my attention. It's pretty cute.
Charlotte LOVES drinking from straws. I kept trying over and over to get her to take a traditional sippy cup. I finally bought a straw sippy cup and she cannot get enough of it. The doctor said it makes no difference if she drinks out of a traditional sippy cup or one with a straw, so I don't need to push the regular one on her.
She is really working on her "milk" and "more" signs more than ever. She tends to do "milk" with both hands when she wants mama milk and she does it with just one hand when she just wants something to eat. She also does "more" for anything she wants more of: more food, more playing, more Yo Gabba Gabba.
She likes watching (and dancing to) Yo Gabba Gabba and Doc McStuffins. These are usually our go-tos when I need to take a shower or have her sit still for just a few minutes so I can get something done.
She is starting to stand on her own more and more. She still cannot get into the standing position by herself, but she stands more on her own when letting go of stuff.
She walks like a champ with her little walker wagon. I get the feeling one day she is just going to take off.
Charlotte loves shoes. Really, she loves them. Whenever we are shopping and looking at shoes she loves it when I try them on her...then she screams when I take them off. Needless to say, she has a good shoe selection.
She also loves doggies. And not necessarily just dogs. Any animal or anything stuffed is a "doggie" to her. She points at all animals and says "doggie" (which sounds like "da-dog"). Any stuff animal she points at, says "doggie", then snuggles it as soon as we hand it to her. This has led to a few tears when we've been out and about and I won't hand her a stuffed animal she sees.
She absolutely hates frosting! We did a cake smash photo session (pictures to be included in a future post) and she would not touch it. I had to smash it for her and she finally played with the cake. Eventually she played with the frosting, but she wasn't a fan of it. On her actual birthday, I got her a mini bundt cake. She was so excited until she touched the frosting. She lost it after that. Once I took the icing off and just gave her some cake she loved it.
She gives hugs now. She won't give one if you ask, but there are several times she will just squeeze me so tight and it melts my heart.

Our twelfth month as parents:

I didn't think I would be sad about Charlotte turning one, but I did have a moment of "oh my goodness, she is no longer an infant". It was a bittersweet feeling. I love the little person she has become, but it seems like so long ago she was just a tiny little newborn.
I am so, so proud to say that I am still breastfeeding. I knew I wanted to breastfeed before even thinking of having kids. So, to know that I have been breastfeeding for a year makes me happy. I plan to keep going for another year if Charlotte will keep at it (she shows no signs of stopping anytime soon).
Bryan takes full advantage of the times she wakes up crying at night to see her for a few minutes when he gets home from work. And Charlotte loves it. She can be screaming from teething pain or gas pains, but when she sees Bryan walk into the room she lights up and reaches out for him.
During the last year we have had to make a lot of adjustments. Bryan has spent several nights on the couch or in the guest room so that Charlotte could sleep in bed with me (which is sometimes the only way her and I get sleep). We haven't had a real date night since before she was born. Everything revolves around her. And we absolutely would not change it for anything. This last year as been the most amazing year.

And time for pictures, which are mostly of her birthday: