twelve months

In Ri's twelfth month of life, she really did some growing. Her attitude just came alive- she will let you know when she doesn't like that you took something away that she wanted (which is usually your iPhone or coming in from outside. Mid-September she decided she wanted to try and feed herself with her fork (still a ways to go on perfecting it, but nonetheless), she will say a good many words on command (Tay Tay, Abbey, Copper, LiLi, GiGi, ball, blue) and says "Hey" to everyone and waves everywhere she goes. I noticed one day that she was doing something with her fingers while sitting in her highchair. I looked it up and she was signing "more." It was awesome. I had tried for a while to get her to use it and it didn't seem to click. I know they have been working on it at school so I guess it finally did!
Ri love love loves to do what Mommy and Daddy do- especially brush her teeth! She will also use her brush to try and comb Mommy's hair, and she will try and put blush on my face when she sits on the floor next to me while I do my makeup.
She is in to pushing the cart at the store, as well as her stroller. It is a royal pain in the ass to allow her to do it since she still isn't walking. So you have to hold her while she "pushes," which in turn wears you out. The best bet is to wear the baby bjorn and let her push. Which is what we did on our first family trip to the zoo this month! She liked watching the monkeys and called the giraffes "Cop Cop" but other than that, just wanted to push the stroller.
She can definitely walk, but is still too fearful to go more than a few steps on her own. She is getting tired of using her hands though so we are currently upright, walking on our knees.

Mommy taught me to put my arms in the air and say "Touchdown" but I like to just clap at everything.

Such a big girl all of a sudden!

Some things I don't want to forget:

--Ri will twirl my hair when we rock at night, while she lies in my arms and drinks her milk. She will make little cooing noises and babble a bit to try and keep herself from nodding off. 

--Ri is the best snuggler/hugger ever. She wraps her arms around your neck, puts her head on your shoulder and will pat your back (I guess I have subconsciously done that to her).
--Ri loves to say Mumm-uh, wait for you to say "Rilynn" and she will say Mumm-uh again, over and over. If we are in the car with Daddy, she will go back and forth between the two of us. 

rolling over both ways – 5 months
sleeping through the night – 3.5 months (sleep trained)
first tooth – 1st two in 1st week of being 8 months
sitting up – 6 months
getting to a sitting position on her own and staying there – 7 months
belly crawling – 6 months
real crawling – 6 months (one day shy of 7 months)
standing – 7 months
cruising – 8 months
first word – 7 months (Da-Da)
waving bye bye- 7 months
first steps – 10 months
walking – 12 months