Sara's twelfth month

Wow. I'm feeling more and more lately that someone has hit the fast-forward button on Sara's development. Obviously she's crawling like a champ these days, but she's also starting to cruise on the furniture, climb the stairs, and empty cabinets at any opportunity.

Meanwhile, her language really seems to be exploding as well. Just a month or two ago I wasn't sure she understood anything we said to her, and while her expressive language is still pretty limited, her receptive language skills seem to be going crazy. On the expressive front, though, she's definitely saying "ball" and has become much more consistent about "bye bye," too.

As her first year draws to a close, we are also phasing out our nursing relationship. As of this writing, I have begun to drop Sara's bedtime nursing session and have introduced whole milk. If all continues to go well, Sara will be fully weaned sometime next week. I must admit that I have been loving the additional freedom, but I am so very grateful to have been able to breastfeed for this long for both of our sakes.

What an amazing journey the past year has been! Happy birthday, baby girl!