Portrait of a one year old

Rachel

Of Hebrew origin meaning ewe, or little lamb; 
One with purity.

Little Miss Rachel Mae turned one year old on September 9th. I can't believe a year has past already.  It seems like not long ago she was just a newborn, cuddled in my arms. Now she is mobile and ready to explore! This year has flown by. 

This little girl is one smart cookie.  Rachel learned the sign for "more".  When she is eating I'll ask if she wants more.  She'll then make her sign for "more". (Her sign for more is pointing to her hand.)  Although she definitely knows the sign, I'm not sure she understands that when she signs "more" she gets more.  I enjoy communicating with signs, so my little one can "talk" to me even if words are not coming out of their mouth.

Rachel has picked up on other hand gestures too. One day I was holding Rachel and she bit my shoulder.  I told her "No, no no!" and shook my finger at her.  She looked at me and started shaking her finger too.  Now when I tell her "No, no, no!"  she begins shaking her finger.  I think she even recognizes my tone of voice because sometimes when I am talking stern to her or Tyler she will begin shaking her finger!

Rachel loves to clap her hands!  She'll clap them if you say "Yeah!" or if you sing "If you're happy and you know it".

Rachel LOVES to point. She is constantly pointing! She points to dolphins, dogs, cats, airplanes, her brother, or anything else she wants or wants you to see.

Rachel is still pretty timid about walking and standing.  Whenever we let go of her finger she usually just squats down to the floor.  Although, when distracted, she had stood for several seconds.

Rachel's favorite things:

Playing pick-a-boo!  Rachel is always up for a round of pick-a-boo and sometimes she'll even say "Boo!" although it sounds more like "Ba!"

Dogs! (or any other animal)  Rachel points, squeals, and kicks her legs as fast as she can to show her excitement.

Milk!  She's graduated to whole milk, but whenever I pour her milk into her bottle she gets so excited she starts grabbing for it before the top is on.

Snuggling and giving hugs!  She recently decided to begin snuggling. I love snuggling with my little ones!  I'll give hugs and hold them close even as a newborn, hoping that one day they will decide to snuggle close and give hugs back.  When Rachel feels like snuggling she'll lay her head on my shoulder, put her arms around me, and if I'm really lucky she'll even pat my back while she's giving me a hug!  It's so sweet!  I love hugging this sweet girl!

Rachel, our pure and precious little girl!