Memories of Us: Our baby at 11 months

I've been thinking alot today about how fast this past year has gone by. Did I cherish all the happy memories enough? I don't ever want to forget this year. It has by far been the best of my life. It's hard to remember now what life was like before this little girl made her debut. She is so happy and sweet and has a lot of spunk ;) She is determined and focused when she wants something. So far she seems to be the perfect balance of her daddy and I. We love her so much and can't believe we'll be celebrating her birthday in a month.

Here is what she's been up to this past month.

Warning: I just typed whatever entered my mind. The following is in no particular order at all.

Saying Dada all the time. She babbles it a lot, but also knows who Dada is and where to find him. She loves knocking on Dada's office door.

Knock, knock

I know you're in there.

She finally said Mama. Twice she has said(repeated me saying) egg- once after seeing a picture and once while watching me puts some on to cook. Also she has repeated banana...it sounds more like nana.... and there is a possibility I'm imagining she's repeating me.

Waves bye bye to people other than her daddy.

Waving bye to Grandma and Grandpa

She loves to give kisses...especially to Daddy. She is learning to blow kisses. She's got the kissing her hand part down, just needs to work on the release. I need to get a picture of this.

She can walk with her Dino and while holding onto the wall, furniture, and hands...is very reluctant to try to let go.

She loves blankets and pillows. She likes to crawl on them and roll all over them.

She loves "helping" with the laundry ;)

"I'm really getting this folding thing down."

Still loves being read to. This month her attention span seems to be better.

Still is quite the little dancer.

I am my own DJ!

Tried and loves cottage cheese. Cries when her bowl is empty. Tried kale and eats it right up.Tried tofu...not a fan but got used to it. Mommy and Daddy were not fans.

Goes to sleep with lullabyes by Violet, the purple puppy from Aunt Becky and Uncle Brent. Sometimes she cuddles right up next to her or on top of her ;0)

Holding tight to Violet's blanket

Really starting to test boundaries. She likes to look at you, touch what she knows she's not supposed to and wait for a response.

Getting into everything. Smiles at the word no and keeps on going. Also she can open cabinet doors.

Cruising around the kitchen

Liked her baby play yard or as we like to call it 'baby jail' for the first few days, but now cries when she's in there even if I'm just a few feet away. Most of the time after a little drama she gets used to it.

I spy a little smile in there.

Loves remote controls , computers, and phones.

Sending a few quick emails before church.

Church is still her favorite place to go.

Ready to get to Bible class.

I think she weighs around 20 lbs. now. It really seems like she's gotten taller lately.

We are trying to limit the amount of time she has her paci in her mouth. Now it's only for sleeping or church emergencies. She does well with this except on car rides home when she's tired. I really think it's helped her start talking more though.

Helps clean up her books and toys before bedtime. If we tell her to put what she has in the basket she does, books, toys, whatever it is.

Loves to hand her daddy whatever she finds...including carpet fuzz.

Still loves paper products. She gets so excited by mail.

The messiest eater you will ever find to my dismay. You should see this girl eat. She goes all in with both hands, and she has started to eat off a plate.

Has started to use a spoon to eat her cotttage cheese. We get the spoon ready. She grabs it and stuffs it in her mouth. She used to then throw the spoon down on her tray, but has recently started handing it back and sometimes playing with mommy and daddy.

Yummy cottage cheese!

Started eating teething biscuits while mommy finishes up supper. We are closely supervising this though because towards the end she has a really big chunk in her mouth to chew, but so far she has done really well with only a few reminders to keep chewing before swallowing. It is SOO messy though. Her entire face gets covered.

I've got a mouth full.

She loves being pulled around in the laundry basket...so much so that I have to hide it now when I don't feel like pulling it around for at least 10+ min. Sometimes I regret that cold, desperate day I came up with the idea. That is a jump rope tied to the basket and I threw in a couch pillow for extra comfort :) She loves it and throws a big fit if it's not her idea to get out.

She hasn't shown much separation anxiety. She has never cried when it's time for Bible class and is usually pretty willing to let other people hold her. I still fear it will come, though.

Another fun thing she did this month was visit the park near our house. She loves swinging, but wasn't quite sure what to think of the slides or the crazy kids there.