Great Expectations: McKenna's One Year Update!

McKenna turned one year old on May 14th! We just can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like yesterday we were quickly trying to finish the nursery and prepare for her arrival. McKenna arrived the day after Mother's Day one year ago! McKenna has changed our lives forever in the best way and what a year it's been!

At McKenna's 12 month appointment, she measured in the 3rd percentile for height and weight at 27 inches and 17 lbs and 2 oz. She still continues to follow her curve that she's had all along and is just going to be a petite child. It makes sense though because she has grandmothers that are petite and parents that aren't giants:). Our new Pediatrician, Dr. Gomez, is fantastic! He seemed pleased with McKenna's achievements and said right away that she's smart and very active! He did suggest that I continue her three solid meals a day with nursing sessions but to make sure that she gets the solids first to allow the higher calorie foods to fill her up. Hopefully that will help these next few months as she becomes even more active!

McKenna really started to try to walk 6 days after her one year birthday. I took her to a morning story-time at a library nearby and she just let go of my hands and took a few steps. She continued just letting go of things throughout the day and even just standing up without holding onto anything and walking. She's still refining her walking skills but is continuing to walk even further before falling and will push our hands away frequently so she can do it by herself! She's started to want to get down more often instead of being held and has learned to stiffen her body and head butt Mommy to get down. She's also started to climb on things and is continuing to make her Momma nervous!

McKenna continues to be a very social child and gets people's attention everywhere we go! She's constantly waving to strangers and flashing her contagious smile. She especially loves seeing other kids when we're out and about and gets soo excited. McKenna continues to love to play peek-a-boo. She loves games where she chases us around the house.

McKenna has really started to comprehend more and already has some words and approximations. She says uh-oh, Mamma, Dadda, Go-ria (for our cat Gloria), meow, quack, bow wow, and round round (while we sing Wheels on the Bus). Her favorite sound is a lion growl which she sometimes makes for other animals too but she knows to growl when you ask her what a Lion says! She continues to love reading her books and will listen to three or four at a time. I'm amazed at her attention span and how she really listens. She knows to turn pages well and knows when to turn pages in books that we've read a lot.

For McKenna's actual birthday, we took her to the Fort Worth Zoo. She loved it! She was fascinated with all the animals. One highlight was the parakeet and cockatiel area. She got to feed the birds sesame seeds on a stick. She was also brave and petted a chicken which she loved! She also enjoyed getting to see the gorillas up close at feeding time. We also got to see McKenna's favorite, the Lions and we even heard a real Lion roar! Grammy (Deric's Mom) came to visit for the week so McKenna's birthday was even more special! I've posted pics from the zoo below!