12 Months - July 2, 2014

You are walking all by yourself and you are very good at it - even in the sand! You linked it all together right around 11 1/2 months and you haven’t gone back to crawling since! 

Walking has given you a ton of confidence and freedom, it is so fun to see you cruising around wherever you want.

We celebrated your 1st birthday on the 4th of July. Beach all day at churches, then we came back to the house and had a lemon & blueberry cake for you that I made. You weren’t that stoked on it. :) You loved opening your gifts and you took time with each one, studying it, reading the book, playing with the doll, holding up the clothes, etc. It was so sweet to see and it really did seem like you were thankful for each one. What a sweetie.

No real words yet - just dadadadada all day long. But I think you understand a lot of words.

You’ve done this for a while, but you pat your belly when you’re nakey before/after a bath.

You were successfully weaned from breastfeeding. Bittersweet! We had a good go, especially considering how many rough patches there were!

We sure love our curious, sweet, and adventurous one-year-old. Can’t wait to see all of the things you’ll keep learning and doing baby girl.

11 Months - June 2, 2014

You like to wave to new people that you see. You also like to wave at your Grandpa Facer when he is sitting on the stand in church as the Bishop. You can pick Beaver out of the sacrament line-up. 

You attended lots of bonfires and beach days this month.

You are now at the age that you are really liking to play at the park - climbing up the stairs, going down slides with us.

You can walk from furniture piece to furniture piece. You can also walk around just holding one of our hands. Going to be doing it on your own soon!

We visited Berkeley/SF area to try to find an apartment. We found one! I knew it was a good fit when you "walked" down the hallway to your own room and got excited. We also took you on walks around the block by Darren & Corinne's house, and you could do a whole block or two with us just holding one of your hands. You get so happy the more you can move and do on your own.

You've spent a lot of time in the backyard with grandma and grandpa. You "water" the flowers with grandma, and grandpa takes you on "walkabouts" and you discover all sorts of things.

10 Months - May 2, 2014

First hike - we hiked the Y with you on my back in the Ergo the whole way!

You turned 10 months in Hawaii!!! 

You are officially a beach baby. You love love love the water. You loved having us run you right up to the waves and let them break on your legs. At first you did NOT like the sand, not even sitting on a towel on top of the sand...you are a texture person, so I guess it bothered you. But one day you scooted right off the towel and started picking it up in your hands and letting it fall on your legs and you were all of a sudden loving it and crawling all over.

You got a lot of attention in Hawaii from strangers...”little Betty!” Because you are the cutest baby.

You practiced patience this month with mom and dad finishing classes, finals, graduating, and packing up the house.

You did pretty well on both flights to and from Hawaii. And you always do great in the car!

You have mastered taking naps in your carseat, especially when the sound of the waves can lull you to sleep.

Speaking of sleep....you woke up a couple times a night and would stay up for an hour or two in the middle of the night! It must have just been the time change, but boy that was rough. 

We call you our adventure baby, and we love that we can take you anywhere!

9 Months - April 2, 2014

You get a thrill out of chasing any kind of bird, whether that be ducks at the pond or seagulls at the beach.

You love your board books more and more. Especially the ones with flaps you can open. You are very proficient at this!

You are moving around with the help of furniture pretty well. And you love trying to climb. You are going to keep me on my toes, I can tell!

We wanted to play tennis on a nice sunny day, so we brought your pack-n-play and had you on the side of the court. It was full of a ton of toys, but of course just pulling the wipes out of the box was your favorite! It was fun for all of us.

We go and visit dad for lunch breaks at BYU and walk around, sometimes we visit the MOA. You are so cultured ;)

You love all animals, I took you to a friend's "farm" and you were not scared one bit of the alpacas, cows, horses, etc. I was scared they were going to try to eat your little top bun off your head!

We saw the Angel Moroni get placed on the Provo City Center Temple.

Last month in Utah! Pretty soon you will be a California babe once again.