Bristol is 1!!

Playing catch up here still... I actually wrote this post the week after Bristol's birthday party, but never posted it because I never had time to add the pictures.  I haven't changed it at all, just added pics, so sorry if its (quite) outdated.  :) 

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Our baby girl is now a 1-year old, as hard as that is to believe!  This past year has flown by.  Bristol is growing into a spunky lil' miss and we all just love her to pieces and consider her a great blessing to our family.  

Bristol is still a little peanut.  She weighs 17 pounds, which puts her in the 3rd percentile for weight, and is 28 inches tall, which puts her between 5-10th percentile for height.  But she is very healthy, proportionate, and is developing quite well, so there are no concerns with her size.  She seems to be taking after her cousin, Anna, in size.  :). She was also quite sick a few weeks before turning one, with roseola and another virus, so she lost weight during that time, which hasn't helped her stats much.  Not to mention, since she has been walking, she does not stop moving.  :) 

Bristol is very active.  She just walks and walks and walks.  She's quite steady, but still is a little slow and unsure when walking through the grass outside.  She's also a climber and will climb on anything she can.  We have to keep a very close eye on her.  And she thinks it is hilarious when she does something she knows she isn't supposed to do... Until you tell her no, them she sticks out her bottom lip and screams for a few seconds... Then moves on to something else.  She has quite the little personality - haha!  

Other than walking around, some of Bristol's other favorite things to do are to play ball (both kicking and pushing it back and forth), play pat-a-cake and this little piggy, to play peek-a-boo, to get into her brother's Legos to help him build, to play Duplos, to put things into and out of larger boxes, to listen to music and to dance.  She loves to dance and usually stops whatever she is doing to shake her little booty when she hears music that she likes.  

Bristol absolutely loves books.  She will bring book after book from her shelf to have read to her.  Her favorites are touch-and-feel and lift-the-flap books, but any will do.  She also loves, loves, love to eat!  She is like a bottomless pit!    Seriously!  No one can ever believe how much she eats for as little as she is.  Her favorites right now are carrots, peas, pot roast, grilled chicken, sausage, raspberries (especially when she gets to help pick them in our yard, which is another favorite past-time of hers right now), watermelon, or any kind of fruit, really. But she is a pretty good eater and will eat most everything... Though you do have to be strategic in what you put on her plate and when.  If you get any of her favorites on her plate before something she thinks is just so-so, she will refuse to eat anything but her favorites.  We cannot even put fruit on the dinner table for the rest of us until Bristol is ready for it.  She knows what she wants, that is for certain.  :)

Bristol is such a cuddler and is so loving.  She loves to give and get hugs and kisses and often just wants to be held and cuddle for awhile.  She is such a little sweetheart.  

Bristol is quite social and blabs a lot, but doesn't have that many words, really, at least when compared to Carson at 1-year.  Though she understands just about everything you say to or ask her.  She says mama, dada, nigh-nigh (goodnight), nom-noms (food), Cahr (Carson), gum-uh (grandma), dat (that), bah (ball), and nana pretty regularly now.  This last week she has really been trying to say new words, too.  i've noticed she is repeating things more and more.  But even though she doesn't have so many words yet, she has her (effective) ways to get her point across.  We can tell that she is quite smart, though.  And she has quite a good memory.. For instance, if you ask her where her paci is, she generally will be able to go find it where she left it, even if its been quite long time.  

Bristol also loves the water.  She got a water table for her birthday and it is her favorite thing to do outside these days.  She also really enjoyed the lake and loves floating around in the pool!  I think we've got another fish on our hands.  :) 

I could keep going on and on, but I think that's enough for now.  Bottom line is that Bristol brings us so much joy, laughs, and smiles. We can't imagine our lives without her and thank God for her (and her brother) each day.  We are very much looking forward to seeing her grow and blossom during the next year and throughout the rest of her life.