12 Months!!!

Well, here we are! Maggie Joy is 12 months (and several days) old now. My happy go lucky, busy baby girl. It has been a fantastic year. (When it wasn't dragging along as slow as can be, it sure flew by! Hehe.)

Oh, my sweet baby sweetness, there is so much to say about you, and I don't know how to put it into words! True to your name, you are just such a joy. Everyone adores you.

So, we all thought Maggie would be walking by now, but she's still just on the verge. She has the skills. Occasionally she takes a couple steps between pieces of furniture. But it's almost as if she doesn't realize yet that she can do it. And she's so fast and nimble on her hands and knees, and such a good climber, she doesn't really need to walk.

Baby girl has a nice head of light reddish-brown hair and a full mouth of teeth (10!) now. She practically invented the "impish smile." And she has a few verified words too: "Mama," "Buh-bye," and my personal favorite, which you have to hear to believe, "WHOA!," always said perfectly in context, in delight at discovering something new and cool.

She loves: crawling, climbing, eating, mama's milk, being carried around, playing in the water, dogs, her brother. She doesn't love: diaper changes, sitting still, the playpen, getting dressed, being pulled from high places, being told "No." She spends her days trying to climb chairs, while her parents gain new gray hairs.

It's not so much the chair climbing that drives us nuts as the way Maggie likes to teeter on the edge of the chair. Shudder. I'm not going to lie: the constant daredevil antics are exhausting for us parents!

But, what can you do? Maggie is an adventurer! She loves to try new foods, go new places, meet new people, and of course, climb every new thing. She's game for whatever.

Yes, those are another pair of oliver + s "Sailboat Pants" in mustard linen with cream piping and buttons. These are size 12-18 months, and they are a little big for her, but her 6-12 months pair are getting a bit small. Now that I have done these with piping, I may never do them again without, because they are just too good with it! I'm getting a little better at applying piping to corners, too.

I faced the button placket with a cute floral quilting cotton, which you can just make out at certain angles.


(All materials were from my stash. My one-month-long fabric diet ended yesterday. Time to go shopping! Wahoo! I'm going to try not to totally binge, but no promises.)

We did have a little family birthday celebration this past weekend. Maggie was initially skeptical of her cupcake. Possibly because of the fire on top? But once she tasted it ...

Chocolate! Where have you been all my life?

Happy birthday, baby girl! I think this next year is going to be pretty fun!