That major rite of passage is almost here, if it hasn’t happened already – sometime this month your baby may take her first steps alone. She may also begin feeding herself with a spoon this month, though her aim won’t be the best.

Though at this point her vocabulary probably consists of only a couple of words besides “mama” and “dada,” your one-year-old can probably babble short, fully inflected sentences that sound like she’s speaking a foreign language.

In the coming months, your child will seek more independence, discover the world from an upright position, find her sense of humour, and learn to say she loves you.

Sounds like quite a handful, doesn’t it? 

But if the past year is any indicator of how much joy a child can bring into your life, I know I’m going to have … a full life.