12 months (+1) checkup

Yesterday was the 12-month checkup, off by only a month and change ... Annika clocks in at 20 pounds, 14 oz., stands 29 1/2 inches tall, and amazed the doctor and the nurses with how far ahead of the curve she is, developmentally -- R. theorizes that the slight slowdown in physical growth is due to all of her energies and calorie intake being funnelled directly to her brain (language, concepts, etc.) and all that running she does. :-)

We tried a couple of new things yesterday, since I stayed home with her in case she got a fever from the shots (she did -- only a degree or so, but we felt a lot better having her at home than at baby school). She absolutely LOVED the strawberries I cut up for her at lunch, and seemed to take to the sweet potato I cooked and mashed up for her dinner -- AND used a spoon herself for the first time! It's mostly been my own reluctance to deal with the mess that's held us back from trying it, but I thought, ehh, this sweet potato will stick to a spoon all right. So I loaded up a baby spoon, put it on her tray, and she grabbed it by the handle end, turned it upside down, and scooped it right into her mouth! I couldn't believe it. Several more spoonfuls in the same fashion were successfully delivered before she got bored and started waving it around, at which point I finished feeding her myself so she'd actually get all of it in her stomach instead of mostly in her hair. Ever onward!