I don’t think I’ve ever been this late on one of these posts. I took the pictures long ago, but then between everyday life and then traveling last week, it’s taken me longer than I’d originally hoped to put it together. Hopefully Eve doesn’t mind too much when she’s older.Height: 30.25 inches (39%)
Weight: 18 pounds 3 ounces (11%)
Head Circumference: 17.5 inches (19%)

Clothing size: 12-18 month clothes. She wears size 4 sneakers, but they’re still always falling off her feet (and we’ve come close to losing them a couple of times). She got her very first pair of church shoes for Uncle Karl’s wedding.

Eye color: Blue.

Hair: Dark brown with some texture in the back. I can make a tiny, single ponytail on top, and it’s starting to get pretty long!

Teeth: TEN! She’s got three in the middle front, both top and bottom, and then her one-year molars! She has the cutest little goofy grin these days.

Eating: She loves everything: apples, grapes, clementines, mini wheats, muffins, yogurt, cucumbers, cheese, green or black olives, peanut butter, bread, shredded chicken, pasta, enchiladas, pizza… I could go on and on. She amazed both me and her doctor by already learning how to feed herself with a spoon. It’s helpful to me, so I’m glad!

There was definitely marshmallow bribery involved in taking these pictures.

She is also the messiest eater ever. Sometimes she “washes” her hair with her yogurt.

She’s still been nursing three times a day this month, but I’m thinking of switching the before-nap session to a glass of cow’s milk and just having the morning and evening nursings (we do sometimes skip it anyway if we’re traveling or have an appointment). I am very aware that we’re coming up on the ages when Kaya and Nella completely self-weaned, but thinking that Eve could be almost done really saddens me. I’ve really been treasuring each time we get to cuddle up and nurse, knowing it could be limited.

Sleep: Eve, one day when you read this, you’re going to realize that you gave your parents such a hard time in this category.

She goes to bed around 8 or 8:30 pm these days, and then she’s awake and crying like clockwork at midnight. Daddy has to go give her her pacifier and/or hold her for a while until she calms down. He’s started giving her a little blanket some nights, and it seems to help. She also loves to snuggle Sprinkles, her stuffed puppy, or my stuffed sloth at night. Middle-of-the-night nursing is a thing of the far past now.

She nurses at 6:30 am, and then she usually sleeps another hour or so. Nap time is for 3 hours, usually about 2 pm to 5 pm.

Words: Baby, Dada, Mama, uh-oh, paci, bum (when she needs a diaper), Sprinkles, Slothy, Ya-Ya (Kaya), ball… I’m sure there are so many more I’m not thinking of. The craziest thing is that she’ll just babble nonsense words, but she uses inflection and intonation in a way that sounds like she is really speaking in sentences. It’s hard to describe, but it’s crazy to hear.

Favorite things: Books, making giant messes (yes, our playroom really does get this destroyed every single day), playing with her sisters, laughing with Daddy, snuggling with Mommy, Sprinkles the stuffed dog, Scout the real dog, Freyja and Claire, the bounce house at Kangaroo Kids, her pacifier, and baby dolls.

Dislikes: Being told no! She has started this new thing where she’ll arch her body completely backward and throw her head to the ground (or whatever she hits first, which is sometimes a wall). I really wish she wouldn’t throw tantrums this way because I worry about her hurting herself.

Nicknames: Evie, Eeeeee, Lovie.

Milestones, etc.: -This girl is a wild climber! Just a few seconds can get her on top of the table. She also tries to stand on the doll stroller, which is a pretty bad idea.

-She really loves coloring and painting, but she’s just awful at staying on the paper. She makes art everywhere!

-She loves brushing her teeth (and chewing on her toothbrush, so we’ve already been through several). She’ll climb up on the step stool to get to the sink on her own.

-She is at the age where taking her picture is extremely difficult. It took forever just to get a few for this post. Taking pictures is not Eve’s favorite thing.-This lady loves to BOOGIE! Any music will get her to rock her booty back and forth or bop her head up and down. She even did it for The Magic School Bus theme song one day when we started watching it, which I found really hilarious.

-I took her in the bounce house at our Kangaroo Kids class for the first time, and now that’s pretty much all she ever wants to do when we’re there. She can barely stand in there on her own for a few seconds, but it’s her favorite.

-She’s obsessed with trying to get into the shower or bathtub when any of her sisters are in there. She’ll lean in as far as possible and get completely soaked!

-She still needs to have the pacifier accessible at all times. I almost think that maybe she’s become even more dependent on it than ever. We have 6 pacis, and they all get lost almost every day!

Dear Eve,

I can already see how much older you look even compared to two months ago. You’re losing that “babyish” face and looking like a real toddler now, which is both exciting and heartbreaking at the same time. You are learning so many new things every day. You walk and run like you’ve been doing it since the day you were born.

You’re always happy to see me. You lean in and give me these big kisses right on the lips, and you make me laugh even on days I don’t feel like laughing. You are such a brilliant beam of light for our family.

I love you, Princess. Keep on shining.

Love, Mommy