12 Months Old - A Jackson Family

Dear Emily,

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl. I am so excited to share this huge milestone with you. You are a regular part of our family now, and I can’t imagine life without you. The last few weeks your personality has begun to shine through even more and you get excited about everything. You form your mouth into an “o” shape and go “oooh oooh ooh” as you crawl or point or walk to or show what you are excited about.

You love to laugh! Last night I was trying to put you to bed and you just kept looking up at me and doing this cute little fake laugh, like you had just told a funny story and got a chuckle out of it. You and I laughed back and forth like this for at least ten minutes.

You are walking now. Two weeks ago you took your first solo steps in between our couches, and now you can walk about half the length of a room before you take a seat. Sometimes you can only take two steps before you plop down, and sometimes you dive into our arms and miss a few steps altogether, so consistency in walking still has a little ways to go. It is so fun to watch you walk around like a little adult.

While you still try just about anything in the food department, there are some food you just won’t take another bite of. When you are done eating food you now hand it to me saying some version of “done”. The biggest development in eating is that you now like to feed ME what you are eating. It is very nice of you to share.

You love being outside and often sign to have your socks and shoes on as a signal that its time to go out. Collecting rocks and sticks is still a pastime, but you now also bang on the brick walls or slides with those rocks and sticks. When other kids are banging you dance to their drumming. You also notice airplanes and birds and sign both and point when you hear them. You are also a great stroller rider and we go on lots of walks.

Music and dancing are two of your favorite things. When you want to listen to music you start nodding your head and rocking back and forth. You also do this when you hear anything that makes noise. This last weekend during General Conference you learned to sign music/sing while watching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform a number of times. You also watched, transfixed for an hour, a documentary on the BYU Ballroom Dance Team and danced along almost the entire time.

You have begun sleeping through the night as of two nights ago! You have switched to one, 45 minute nap a day instead of two, but sometimes you sleep even longer which is so strange. For the first time in your little life we aren’t moving you somewhere else once you start sleeping well, so I’m hoping this trend will continue…at least until your next tooth comes in.

You have six full teeth. I think this makes you look so much older. A little girl instead of a baby. I love your smile with these big teeth shining through.

Your fine motor skills are skyrocketing which makes playing with you so much fun. We open and close lids and put rocks or other small objects in tubes and holes and repeat often. We’ve had lots of tools and clamps hanging around our house the last week and those have been favorite things to play with. You are also becoming very adventurous and don’t have a problem sneaking up the stairs if I leave the gait unlocked or climbing up stacks of things. If you are doing something new you look at me for permission or encouragement and once I give you a smile you carry on.

You love pumpkins. The excited face comes out every time we pass on a porch or walk past a display at the store. This makes the fall season incredibly fun to explore with you. I think you think they are basketballs, which you love. Actually you really, really love all balls.

I love you so much, my Emily Mae!