The Time You Turned 11 Months

It amazes me how time has flown by so rapidly this year. You are now 11 months old - SO close to one year and I just can't fathom how we've come so far so fast. You are in every way amazing, talented, and frankly genius. We feel that you are very advanced and obviously the cutest baby in the world - no bias here. Today also happens to be your first 4th of July celebration as well. Unfortunately, I did not get to spend it with you as you were in Houston with daddy and mommy was working in Austin (see next post for that devastation growing experience). I think you knew that I felt bad about not being there though as I heard from several sources that you slept through fireworks.








Beautiful as always ... toothless as always. This photo was just before you unceremoniously ripped the flower headband from your head with annoyance. We have a huge box of headbands and hair accessories but you remain fairly hairless and you have always hated wearing anything on your head for more than 2.5 seconds - so in the box they will remain until you forget you don't like them.

Below... you showing mommy and daddy how easy it now is for you to climb up on top (and then over - if we aren't super proactive about your safety) on the couches in the living room in the baby arena.

It's become a thing for you to eating your monthly sticker. You've become quite adept at it. I usually am able to salvage most of it and at the very least get it out of your month, but I'll admit - your poor mommy may have not been the mommy of the year this month and you probably did end up digesting a bit of your sticker this time. I couldn't seem to keep it away from you. It probably didn't help that I couldn't find a white onesie so I just stuck the sticker to your tummy instead for your photo op. 

Oh and the cheesy-face. You started doing the cutest (the new cutest) thing this month. When you are smiling, you scrunch up your face - eyes, nose, and eyebrow - and put on a huge grin. This is now your signature response to things that make you laugh or smile - perhaps even times when you smell something gross or at least that's what it looks like. The first time you did it, the face was few and far between then after visiting Houston and entertaining everyone with it... you started doing it frequently and nonstop. The praise and laughter associated with the face I'm sure encouraged the continuation of this adorable new expression.

You have accomplished a lot this month. You have taken great strides - literally - in your walking proficiency. You can now get up from sitting without furniture and get just about anywhere relatively fast walking. You still crawl for expedited travel but not often. You can climb up and over everything - including our baby arena (the living room) that has been specifically arranged to contain you. You can say puppy - softly in a whisper - and you can chastise the puppies in a loud babble. You can say Mama and Dad sometimes dada more discriminately but you won't do it on command - only sporadically when you feel the urge to surprise and excite us. You still primarily indiscriminately make the mama and dada sounds particularly mama when you are hungry or sad or crying. You very much have us wrapped around your pretty little fingers. I can't stand to hear you cry still and now much less when I think you are intentionally calling our my name "mama" in order to stop the heartache and pain of whatever devastation you are processing such as being confined to the living room and your current inability to vault the ottoman or your confinement to the pack-n-play so heaven-forbid mommy can take two seconds to change while she knows you are in a safe space. But your mind games work wonders because I pick you up, I hold you, I love you and I avoid setting you down in confining environments as often as possible. You little stinker! But you have daddy too. As always, he can still handle the cries better than mommy which has saved us a few 3am full-scale wake ups as daddy encourages mommy to "wait just one more minute" then ah alas you were only startled for a moment and have gone back to sleep by yourself. But, I've seen daddy cave to your will occasionally too... a few extra puffs, pull you onto the other side of the ottoman, throw in a cookie, or just open his arm and let you crawl on into his cozy nook and cuddle in to sleep on daddy a little longer in the morning. You've got our number girlfriend and you use it! But we are happy and proud to serve our little princess.