Mariah is ONE!

Mariah turned ONE on October 4. Unbelievable. A couple days before her birthday we decided to have a last minute little shindig to celebrate. We had just a few of Mariah's little baby friends (we let their parents come too ;) over for some food and good times.

Our big gift to her was a play kitchen! I was so excited to get it for her. I've had it picked out for months. We assembled it a few days before her birthday and threw a quilt over it in the living room to hide it. Surprisingly she didn't ever mess with it or try to look under the blanket. This is probably the only year we can get away with that. When Matt got home from work we unveiled it for her and showed her how to play with it. It's been a success so far. She plays with it more and more every day, mostly just putting bowls and plates inside all the doors and then taking them out again.

To be honest, our real gift to her (not pictured) was a bag of cotton balls because she loves them and chews on them like bubblegum. We let her go to town on her very own bag for a few days before cleaning them up and hiding them.  Ten days later and I'm still finding cotton balls in the weirdest places.

 Baybeeeez!

 Only picture I got of cake and singing time. Fantastically blurry. I almost dropped the camera when I lunged to stop her from grabbing that candle.

 She partied hard and stayed up past her bedtime. Sure love her.

October 1

A year ago today I was waddling around on my due date feeling huge, emotional, uncomfortable, and trying every trick in the book to make that baby come out.  I tried to picture how she would look, and what she would be like, and I prayed so hard that she would just be healthy. I looked at this dress hanging in her closet and imagined what kind of baby would fit into it in a year. Now, a year later, I realize I couldn't possibly have imagined how perfect she would be. As cliche as it is, I cannot picture my life without her; she feels like another appendage of mine. I'm so glad she is who she is. She is the brightest joy in our family (and also the loudest). Happy almost birthday...

 (We pick our battles...I guess pine cones are on the approved list)

When Mariah was born, I remember looking ahead to her first birthday, and Stephanie said, "Oh she'll be so fun! She'll be standing...and clapping...!" And I was like, "uhhh....9 months of pregnancy and a year of life and that's all she'll be able to do? Wow...boring....." BUT standing and clapping is the BEST! Every little thing she does is amazing to me.

Cecret Lake

I actually remembered to bring the camera to something. Yay. We're still trying to hang on to these last days of summer, but maybe it's too late. We drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon for a hike, and the further we drove, the foggier, and rainier, and colder it got. It was a beautiful day though, hiking up through the clouds and rain until we got to Cecret Lake. It was actually kind of eerie passing the deserted ski lift at Alta, then making it to the lake that was only periodically visible as the fog rolled out and then in again.

 

Still my little mama's girl. 

 (A little emotional...)

 But nobody makes her laugh like dad.

11 months

Mariah is a little ball of goof lately. She is standing for pretty long intervals, and has even taken a couple small steps. Still working on the balance. I can tell she wants to walk and often has us hold her hands to help her get from here to there like a dignified bipedal.

She knows the exact things she is not supposed to do (e.g. eat the houseplant dirt, play on the banister railings, mess with the tv antenna) and crawls gleefully over to do exactly that but turns around first to make sure we are watching. Once she confirms that she has our attention she reaches in slow motion for the forbidden object and then laughs hysterically when we come to remove her.

She still eats everything. It is great now that she can eat most table food; dinner prep is a little easier and she is happy to eat what we eat.

Last week while Matt was working late, we sat on the floor and shared a big bowl of spicy Indian curry while she smiled big at every bite, and I thought: I didn't even know this was my dream, but it just came true. I love enjoying food with her.

Unfortunately she loves non-food items almost as much as food items. Pebbles, wood chips, leaves, toilet paper fresh from the roll, dryer lint out of the garbage, you name it. This morning she was munching on a whole bulb of garlic that fell off the kitchen counter. Yum.

She likes pulling things out of cabinets and drawers, and putting different things back in. It's not unusual to find her hairbrush in the garbage, or a ball in the crock pot. She thinks it is great fun to put cotton balls and receipts down the air vents. Throwing things down the stairs is another favorite game.

Grandma Morris gave her a baby doll during their last visit, and Mariah latched right on to that. She rocks that baby doll and says "awwwww" while patting her back. She brings me her doll to have me put the binky in her mouth over, and over, and over again. I am constantly surprised at how much she understands. We can ask , "Where's your baby?" and she looks around until she finds her doll and then brings it to me.

She also likes "reading" to herself sometimes.

She is barely starting to learn to repeat some words. It is adorable. Besides saying "mama" and "dada", she says "doh" or "hey doh" (here you go) when she hands me an object and "to yo" (thank you) when I give it back. 

When I am folding laundry she'll stand by the dryer and pull out pieces of clothing to hand to me saying "hey doh" with each one. It is actually somewhat helpful. Mind blowing. 

Her assistance at the dishwasher is a little less helpful as she climbs on top of the open door and throws silverware on the floor.

Even less helpful is her sweeping assistance when she crawls right in the middle of the collected dirt and dried food and lifts a handful to her mouth like, "Hey thanks for gathering all my snacks in one convenient place!"

She just has a mind of her own. She prefers to suck on her paci upside-down, and she likes riding in the Target cart like this, no matter how many times I tried to make her sit normally. Gangster.

She makes me laugh. Her giggle reminds me that everything is funny. She is so much fun to have around.  She sings along to the radio in the back of the car, and pulls the shower curtain over herself to play peek-a-boo in the bathtub. She is super affectionate and gives big monkey hugs and slobbery kisses. I can't capture her sweetness in words.

I like that she still wants to be swaddled for her naps and bedtime, and she prefers to fall asleep in my arms. We're down to nursing just in the morning and before bed (and sometimes once in the night); I didn't think I would ever say I would miss it, but I'm kind of not ready to stop. I am already mourning her babyhood; I know there will be other babies, but there will never be another baby Mariah, and that is a very sad thing.

(Thanks for the pic, Meaghan!)