On Coco's First Birthday

I'm how old? (hashtag Grandpa Vance hair)

This morning, Coco woke up at 7:11am after sleeping through the night.

Well, that's not quite true--she's been sleeping through the night all this week, but woke up crying at one point last night and David got up and gave her a pacifier and she went back to sleep without nursing.

(It's taken a full year, but she did this all on her own without any sleep training on my part unless you count the one night we got back from vacation and David and I were both so exhausted that when Coco woke up crying in the middle of the night, we each kept waiting for the other to get out of bed and go get her and before we could determine who was going to do it, she had miraculously stopped crying and gone back to sleep on her own. It took all of five minutes, and she hasn't demanded to nurse in the middle of the night since then. Don't worry--I expect that if she's anything like her sister, she will more than make up for it when it comes to potty training).

It's such a cliche, but it's really hard to believe it's been a year since this moment:

But also... How has it only been a year? This feels like forever ago.

Coco is such a happy baby. She really has a sunny disposition and a big smile for almost everyone.

She likes to get attention by saying, "Hai-ai!" over and over again. She plays peek-a-boo by hiding and then saying, "Bo!" in the sweetest little voice. She adores her sister Zuzu and I can't overestimate what a delight it is to see them play together.

I'm not sure how much longer Coco will tolerate being "the prince" instead of a princess, but right now she is a very convenient, if somewhat uninvested, date to the ball.

Though she is a happy baby, she's not always easy-going and she expresses her frustration very clearly. She's also remarkably strong, particularly when thrashing.

I've learned to wait a count before interfering when she's playing with Zuzu and I hear her cry. Sometimes she really does need to be rescued, and other times she does just fine sticking up for herself.

6 months old. Already ferocious.

She goes to the doctor for her one-year check up in a couple of weeks, but if I had to guess, I'd say she weighs a little over 20 pounds. Her head is still ginormous, but it's also very cute.

I swear it's the camera angle that makes it seem so big! Partly.

She's not walking quite yet, although she's taken a few steps on her own. She will crouch down to crawl or bump to a sitting position rather than try to stagger across the room. But she can stand up entirely unsupported, and she cruises along holding on to furniture or the all or a hand.

And she's no longer taking baths in our sink!

She's an adventurous eater and we've hardly found a thing she doesn't like. She won't devour plain Greek yogurt the way Zuzu did, but she did eat it last night in a very healthy quinoa/veggie salad topped with yogurt that no one else liked very much (haha).

Also a big fan of spaghetti

Unpacking things is one of her specialties--toy bins and dresser drawers in particular.

She emptied the box of nursing pads and then Zuzu helpfully removed the backing to expose the adhesive on most of them. When I expressed my frustration, Zuzu said, "I'm sorry I took the tape off your boobs, Mommy."

She's also especially good at pointing. She loves doing this and waiting for the particular object of her attention to point back. Every time it's with such intensity!

She still wants to take two naps a day, although she'll often settle for one long one in the afternoon because she no longer dozes off easily in the stroller, and even the carseat can be iffy. She doesn't transfer from carseat to crib, but she goes down easily when we have our familiar routine of nursing and rocking in her bedroom.

She'll have her transfer at daycare soon to the "younger toddler room" and I know she's ready, but I will miss the teachers who have taken such good care of her. I feel incredibly lucky to have had the best of both worlds in working part time and having a summer schedule, (even though I've had moments when it's felt like the worst of both worlds--all the guilt, half the time, etc.)

She was 5 months old here, but this is basically the face she makes when I show up at daycare to pick her up. So basically my heart explodes every work day around 4pm.

I call her our One Tooth Wonder, as she had a bottom tooth pop through at ten months and four days old, and its partner has not shown up next to it! I can just now see it gleaming through her little gum.

totally toothless at 7 months old

All the things they say about the younger child are true... Coco has been exposed to things that I never would have done with Zuzu before she turned a year old... more conveniently packaged store-bought baby food, the flickering TV screen tuned to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a little-bitty taste of Nutella (and who knows what other non-recommended foods Zuzu might have offered when my back was turned for a moment).

She developed a taste for wine at about four months.*

And enjoys a crisp white in the summer time.*

* OBVIOUSLY kidding. Just in case it wasn't obvious.

She's had the pacifier that landed on the floor, seems thoroughly to enjoy being French kissed by the dog,

Sibling love

and has spent a few days entirely in her pajamas instead of being paraded through a series of adorable outfits.

Also looks great in her birthday suit.

But even if my parenting style is a little more relaxed, the awe and the laughter and the thrills are just as good this time around.

She's a keeper.

My plan for today is to take the girls to the Botanical Gardens this morning and try to take a few photos (we all know how well these plans have gone in the past, so wish me luck). Zuzu and I will make birthday cupcakes for Coco while she naps, and tonight we'll celebrate our "surprise" baby at home before having a party with friends and family at a park tomorrow morning.

Coco-puff, you are the best surprise of my life. How happy I am to celebrate a year of getting to know you. You are a most unexpected gift that I'd never want to do without. Your smile lights up my life and fills up my heart, and it doesn't hurt that you truly are one of the cutest babies I've ever seen. I'm so lucky to be your mama.