11 months!

Well, this is it...your last month of 'infancy.' Excuse me while I go curl up and cry! I'll save my super sap for your 12 month post, but time with you has just flown, angel baby. Daddy and I have loved every minute with you; you've filled our hearts to the tippy-top with JOY and LOVE. I can't imagine any greater blessing.

At ELEVEN months old:

• Your sleep hasn't changed...still logging 12ish hours each night.
• Your napping is changing a bit because you can stay awake so much longer now. You don't want to miss anything, so you've shortened your naps a bit, too! You're still taking 2 naps totally about 3 hours. It always takes you awhile to fall asleep in the afternoon now, but apparently that's pretty normal for your age!
• Holy cow, you LOVE TO EAT! You can eat as much as I do when you feel like it. My little piggy! You're a carb girl and would eat a (whole!) grilled cheese every day of the week if I'd let you. Other favorites include sweet potatoes, waffles, cheese, mexican rice, avocados, sweet peas, bananas, and cuties. Oh, you love to drink the juices I make too. You whine like crazy if I don't share with you the second it comes out of the machine.

• You're still taking 4 bottles a day. I guess we're going to start the weaning process on those, but I'm nervous! You know when you wake up from sleeping or napping that it's bottle time, so I'm hoping you'll be fine with milk out of your cup, too.
• You got 3 new teeth this month, and let me tell you, anyone within a 5 mile radius probably knew it. Teething is NOT FUN for you or us! You've spent many hours on my hip this month :)

• You TOOK YOUR FIRST STEPS!!! That is just crazy to me! You haven't taken more than 3 consecutive steps before getting down on all fours to get there faster, but I'm sure you'll a full time walker in no time. The main problem with your walking is that you would rather RUN! Ha!
• You cruise around behind your stand-up walker all the time, and you can even change directions and maneuver around furniture with ease now.

• You can stand for the longest time, so your balance has improved a lot!
• Your vocabulary is expanding every day! Your favorite word is definitely "uh-oh," and you use it all the time. You also say mom/mama, dada, baw (ball), ba-ba (bottle & bye-bye) as well as making the pony sound and barking like a dog, of course.
• You love to read and turn the pages in books of all kinds! The bath books and board books are definitely your favorites, though.
• You are OBSESSED with dogs. You just think they're the best thing ever. Daddy's convinced we need to get one, but I'm holding out on this one as long as possible. You also love ponies! Your rocking horse and stuffed ponies that Nanny & Popo got you are some of your favorite things.

• You love playing 'bridge' and crawling under our legs.
• You can't stand for a cabinet or door to be open, so you shut them as soon as they open just about! You could play peek-a-boo opening and closing doors ALL day long.
• Your favorite game right now is probably throwing the ball back & forth. You've got a pretty good arm! Of course, that makes daddy so happy.
• You're still my girly-girl even though you like playing ball ;) You put your chewy beads on and off all day and love to play in my make-up.

• You still love to swing at the park!
• Your fine motor skills are really improving because you can now put the shapes in your shape sorter (not necessarily the right ones, of course) and you can put the donuts on your ring stacker pretty easily. Oh, and let me not forget that you find the tiniest speck of WHATEVER might be on the floor! Always calling me out on cleaning, Jaqs.

• You give the sweetest kisses EVER, but you make us work for them. You definitely don't just give them to anyone either!
• You finally had some stranger danger set in this month. You're very quiet when you're around people you aren't familiar with, and you grip my arm tightly to let me know that you don't want to go to them. Thankfully you don't take long to warm up, usually.

• You're in a difficult stage for eating out and sitting in a shopping cart. You're such a busy body that you just don't want to sit for long, but of course you don't understand that you can't crawl around at Taco Cabana or Target. So if I really have a lot of groceries to get or something, I keep you busy with puffs or mum-mums ;)
• You finally hit 20 pounds! Go girl!
• You're mostly in 12 month clothes with a few 18 month things mixed in.
• Your shoe size is somewhere around 3-4 still.
• Still in size 3 diaper, too! 4's at night, of course.

Jaqsy baby, every month I think I couldn't love you any more, but then another month goes by, and you prove me wrong. I'm probably going to be giving you more kisses than ever before in this 'last' month of baby-hood, so get ready! Daddy and I love you so very much, and we thank God for you with every thought!