Whoops! :)

I realized today that I never gave the updates from Bria's 12 month check up. Not that any or even most of you really care, but I have very little things of interest to write about right now, so humor me and pretend you are interested, ok? :)

We went and saw Dr. Brooks on Tuesday, the day after Bria's birthday. She tipped the scales at 18#, 4 oz. which puts her in the 7th percentile for weight. She is 29" long, which is only 1/2 an inch shorter than what Tyler was at his 1 year (although he had her beat in the weight department at 22#, 2 oz.). She's in the 40th percentile for height. (And for any of those keeping track, she was in the 66th percentile for head circumference; still not up to Tyler's 89th, but that just means my kids are smart. ;)) She had 2 shots and did pretty well, cried when they gave them to her, but it was the "Why on EARTH did you just do that to me!?" not much the "Ow that really hurts!". If you've seen Bria cry when she falls down or tips over, it's not usually an "I'm hurt" cry that comes out; it's a very mad cry. What can I say, she's going to be our little spitfire. ;) But doc seems pleased with her growth, despite her being a 'peanut'. I did ask him about the little bump on her stomach and he felt it and determined that it was diastus rectus, which is the separation of the abdominal muscles (it often happens in pregnant women), but we both thought it probably happened back when she was just a few months old and kept trying to do crunches. He said it would go back on its own, whenever her muscles strengthened. I thought she had given herself a little hernia, so I was relieved to hear it wasn't anything serious.

She toddles after Tyler all the time and tries to join in on the games of chase that happen around our kitchen and at Grandma's when Sawyer chases Tyler. She usually gets lapped by the boys, and occasionally gets smacked in the face from flailing arms, but most of the time isn't even phased by it. She is still as smiley as ever (if not more so!) and loves playing with the blocks and Tyler's cars, much to his dismay. Her hair is getting curlier and curlier, so on days when it's humid out, it gets a little out of control. :)

Tyler is still very much 100% boy. He loves to play with his cars and hook them together (or at least pretend to hook them together!), line them up and race them across the floor. He still has his sensitive side too. We went over to visit Matt's Great Aunt Lois last week (she lives just around the block from our house) and loved playing with the purple stroller, the baby dolls, the sparkly pink cellphone case and the pink cell phone that "talked". His sister? Played with the cars we brought over on the stairs going "Vroom, vroom!". :) Matt's so proud. But what can I say? He spends most of his time with me & his little sister. Potty training has been up and down, but thankfully since Saturday, we've had more ups than downs. He even had a first today, of actually going potty at the park. First time using a public restroom and he did very well. Hopefully we're turning a corner. His vocabulary continues to increase and improve and while there are still some words I don't understand, for the most part, we can have some conversations. He is definitely a sponge when it comes to remembering things; he still brings up our trip to Michigan with the Hemphills and stopping to eat at McDonald's (funny how that seems to have impacted him more than the reunion and meeting lots of family members!) and riding in Grammy & Papa Mac's car to church. He also brings up riding the train and going through the dark tunnel (that was early July!) so perhaps we traumatized our son by taking him through a tunnel. :)

So that's another quick update. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I really haven't been taking very many the past few days. But don't worry, I'm sure I'll more than make up for it in an upcoming post. :)