Zahra turned one, we threw a party, and I took a break

Well! Zahra has been one for a full ten days now and I haven't done the Zahra run down of her accomplishments, quirks, and personality that we will all want to remember her for years down the road. Let's count them off. What makes Zahra ZAHRA?

1. Climbing. Zahra likes climbing. It freaks out every adult who is not also parenting a mountain goat.
2. Screaming. Zahra screams with a vibrato that is unmatched in the Mammen household.
3. Zahra likes to point. She pretty much walks around with one finger out.
4. Zahra loves bathtime. She has just started swimming while on her back in the tub. We will try and get a video.  She is now ALWAYS the first one done with dinner and sprints immediately for the bathroom.
5. Zahra has thrown nearly a dozen pairs of shoes from the stroller. (Well, she only ever throws one, for some reason.) I can count at least as many episodes of walking down Broadway looking for a long lost tiny shoe.
6. She is the snuggliest bug and we have a love/hate relationship with the whole thing. I am always *trying* to get her to stay asleep in her bed. But then when I give in, bring her in our room, and she snuggles up next to me, it is like mommy crack. It is just so nice.
7. She eats better than Zayd ever has.
8. She weighed in at 18.5 pounds, making her more like 25% for height and weight. (She had historically been in the 5-10% range.)
9. Her head was 55%. So, smaller than my big-headed boy but not a peanut.
10. She doesn't mind getting incredibly dirty.
11. Zahra is the official Zaydie alarm clock at nap time. When he goes past two hours of nap, we drop her in there and he ALWAYS wakes with a smile when its "baby" doing the waking.
12. I think there is a chance we will send her to college calling her "baby".
13. She likes trucks just as much as Zayd did at this age.
14. She loves doing peek-a-boo.
15. She can sign "all done", "more", "milk". She REFUSES to sign please.
16. She can say "yes", "mama", "dada", "down", "more", "Zaydie", "head", and will repeat nearly any word you ask of her.
17. She likes singing and we have really started singing the tunes Zaydie loved at a tiny toddler. "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is a favorite.
18. She makes snake noises, lion noises, and loves making fishy lips.
19. She hits. In the face. Again, we are working on it.
20. She hums or warbles herself to sleep. Sometimes, if she is frantically humming while trying to sleep, you can just hum loudly over her and she drops right off. I actually think she likes HEARING the noise, versus making it. She has a white noise machine, but sometimes it just isn't enough!

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