Here it is, the last first-year monthly update that I will ever do (probably). I’m feeling all the feelings. My baby has completed one whole year around the sun and while it was the hardest year our family has ever been through (that’s a whole separate post) it was also filled with lots of love and light.

This month, much to our surprise, Reese started walking! I was certain she wouldn’t walk until she was over a year old, but true form she likes to keep me on my toes. She also started standing up from sitting without needed to hold onto anything and while she still prefers crawling for its speed at the moment, I think it’s only fair to say that we have a little toddler on our hands!

Reese has such a funny personality. She comes across as super serious, but we’re learning that this is all just a bunch of hot air and that in fact, she is a complete and utter jokester. In Persian, she would be called “shey-toon” which is what you call someone who is incredibly cheeky and mischevious. And my oh my is she ever shey-toon! She likes to hit me, and when I take her hand and show her out to touch me gently she tried to yank her hand away in order to hit me again at which point I put her down and tell her that she must be gentle. She promptly begins to cry REAL tears, so after a few seconds I pick her up and she IMMEDIATELY hits me again. This can go on and on and on. At dinner time she LOVES to eat, but she hates when we try to help her and gives us the most disapproving furrowed brow look that I’ve ever seen, often accompanied with a shriek of some sort. Yet all I need to do is look at her and mirror her expression and she’ll burst into laughter. She’s also taken to flinging herself out of our arms when she wants to go down, which is just a good time had by all and definitely keep our reflexes sharp.

Reesey Pea continues to sleep so well, I’m definitely optimistic that the sleep issues are truly behind us. She liked to give high-five and huge wet slobbery kisses but she is not at all cuddly. When I try to hug her she flings herself away from me. Even while nursing she pushes away from me and stretches my breast as much as possible in order to achieve the maximum distance from me while still being able to feed, which let’s just say isn’t doing me any favors.

Asher and Bennett love playing with Reese now that she’s more engaging and she, in turn, loves it as well. It nearly always ends in tears but it’s super cute while it lasts. Reese is super proud of her one and only word ‘bye-bye’ and likes to say is whenever given the opportunity. She doesn’t like saying it when prompted and will often stubbornly wait until the person has already left to say it, but at other times all I have to do it say “alright, we better get going” and she’ll start saying goodbye and waving proudly.

Unlike her brother and sister, Reese puts EVERYTHING in her mouth so I really have to watch her, but seeing as she’s our third child, a lot slips through the gaps. She still doesn’t have any teeth, for which I’m grateful quite frankly because she likes to gnaw on everything. Reese is also different from Asher and Bennett in that she will ask to go to other people even when I’m holding her and will sometimes not want to come back to me.

This past year has been the hardest of my life but I’m so thankful to have Reese in our family. She is such a funny, mischevious, curious, loving, intelligent, super active child. She makes our family feel whole and adds a level of dimension that is just so awesome. She always keeps me guessing. I honestly have no idea who she’ll turn out to be or in what direction her personality is going. The moment I think I have a handle on it she switches it up and leaves me feeling baffled all over again.