Taelyn - 1 Year

I can't believe my little baby girl is now a toddler! She had her 1-year doctor's appointment today where she weighed 21 lbs, 12 oz. and measured 29 inches long with a head circumference of 18 inches. She has definitely slimmed down even more this month as she constantly is on the go and is now down to the 60th percentile in weight. We no longer have a chunky baby.

Taelyn's personality has also demonstrated that of a toddler this month. She LOVES when we jump around a corner and yell "Boo" and she loves to play peek-a-boo. She likes to wrestle and be tickled, and she is constantly smiling and laughing, showing off her 12 teeth. Taelyn also enjoys reading books and will pick out the books that she wants to read each night before bed.

Developmentally, Taelyn can now place toys and blocks inside a container and can stack blocks on top of one another. She recently discovered how to place rings around a pole. Every time she does this, she shouts "yea" to congratulate herself. Taelyn has also mastered standing by herself and just took her first two steps today!

Although Taelyn hasn't said any new words yet, she certainly comprehends a great amount. She knows the names of all of the toys that she plays with every day - baby doll, doggie, music, Elmo, Pooh car, etc. She also knows "bath time" and will speed down the hallway to the bathroom each night when I announce that is it bath time. Taelyn also likes to bring specific toys with her in the car. When we instruct her to make sure she holds on to that toy, she consciously keeps a good grip and makes sure she has the toy. And whenever we use the elevator at our apartment complex, she is great little helper in pushing the button.

It seems like Taelyn has grown leaps and bounds this past month in terms of development. Here are a few pictures and videos to capture her toddler spirit!

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Happy 1st Birthday, Taelyn!

Taelyn had quite the exciting 1st birthday with her Grandma and Grandpa Walker visiting from Michigan. She was so eager to impress them, that she wiped herself out just in time for birthday cake. So her first attempt at eating cake did not go so well, but we tried again the next day when Taelyn was not so tired. It went a little better - she at least tried the cake. Overall, we had a very nice time hanging out, opening presents, and celebrating Taelyn's big triumph of one year. Thank you to all who sent birthday wishes and presents her way!

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The Walkers are Moving to South Africa

That's right. Johannesburg, South Africa is the next stop on our overseas adventures. Justin just accepted a job at the American International School of Johannesburg as the middle school counselor starting in August. I will stay home with the two little ones for the school year with the exception of a little substitute teaching from time to time if I choose. From what we have heard and seen online, it looks like a great school and a fantastic place to live. We are pretty excited for this new opportunity.

It's A Girl!!!

We had the big ultrasound last week and found out that we will be having another girl. She was very active during the ultrasound, kicking quite a bit and opening and closing her mouth. Precious!! Here are a couple of our favorite pics of the new little one.

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Silly Little Trouble-Maker

Some of Taelyn's most recent favorite activities:

1. Take each shoe off the shoe rack one by one, followed by dancing.
2. Pull all of the Tupperware out of the Tupperware drawer one by one.
3. Pull the clean, folded laundry out of the laundry basket one by one (can you see a pattern here?).
4. Pick up her toys and drop them over and over again. Or if she is in Pooh car in public, she likes to drop items for me to pick up!

Taelyn has also turned in to a bit of a rebel these days. She knows she is not supposed to play with blinds that cover the glass sliding door. But she will crawl over to that area, reach her hand out like she's going to grab the blinds, and then look at me with a big smirk on her face. If I start to say no, she will immediately grab the blinds and smile. If I look away, she will let go. What a little trouble-maker!

Taelyn has had some pretty silly moments as well. I changed her diaper the other night, and she took off ready to play afterwards before I had time to button her pants back up. So I let her roam with open pants. About a half hour later, Justin was holding her, and went to hoist her up higher when he noticed that he was touching bare butt! We searched the apartment and eventually found that she had taken off her diaper and was running around free for a little while. When we finally discovered this, Taelyn started laughing and thought she was pretty clever and funny!

Taelyn - 11 Months

Wow, I can't believe Taelyn is just one month away from one year! She has been maturing more and more this past month that she really seems more like a toddler now than a baby. She is up to speaking a total of 6 words and has 11 teeth. When playing at library time and the baby gym every week, Taelyn is not as interested in the baby toys any more and more energetic. She loves to follow the big kids around and laugh, laugh, laugh at their every move. Around our home, she likes to jump up and down a lot while smiling, laughing, and screaming for joy!

Aside from her constant moving, Taelyn also loves to play with some of her new toys from Christmas. She dances daily to Wall-e, carries Elmo around with her every where, splashes all 25 of her duckies in the bath every day, and loves to ride her new Pooh car throughout stores when we are shopping! We get a lot of comments about that one too.

At 21.5 lbs., Taelyn is also 29 inches long and has a head circumference of 19 inches.

Merry Christmas!

We leave for Michigan tomorrow to spend a belated Christmas with our families, but first, here is a glimpse of some of the holiday festivities we had here in Colorado. Merry Christmas!

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