11 months!

How is it possible that I'm writing her 11 month blog entry??!! And that I just ordered her FIRST birthday invitations?! Time flies! Although, in the moment, it seems like it's going so slow, but then you look back, and BAM, you're looking on Pinterest for cute birthday ideas and trying to figure out how to make a ladybug smash cake....

This month has been full of lots of changes and developmental milestones. It's also been a month of perseverance for Mommy, as Daddy has been in New Mexico for work every week (and some weekends). James 1: 2-4 has often been floating through my head and the Lord has been gracious to provide patience, perseverance and grace, not to mention lots of help from family and friends. 

Anyway.....

Happy 11 months, my little ladybug! You are absolutely precious and a joy to be around. Everyone asks me if you always smile and look this happy. The answer is "most of the time." You are usually a very happy child, talking to yourself, flashing big grins, especially when I tell you "no," like when you're shaking the lamps or getting into something you're not supposed to. It makes being stern and having an "angry face" difficult because I want to laugh and smile right back at you. 

You got your two bottom teeth this month! Not gonna lie, this past month has not been your best month of sleep. Teething plus another ear infection which needed two rounds of antibiotics to clear, plus the excitement about starting to walk (ie, waking up multiple times a night before hitting the big developmental milestone) made it a tiring month for Mommy. I've been drinking way too much coffee. 

Good news- sleeping has gone much better the past week, after some sleep re-training. :) 

Oh, and daylight savings time this year was my friend- usually I don't like loosing an hour of sleep, but it meant that you woke up at 8:00am today instead of 7:00am... :) 

Your eating has gotten SO much better over the past couple of weeks. We have stopped doing pureed foods and you are now on "big people foods." You especially like to chew/suck on apple cores and will carry them around with you. You know when I am eating an apple and get impatient because you want the core NOW! 

Other favorite foods right now are "Lucy Soup"- my own concoction of frozen veggies, lima beans and black or pinto beans, cooked in broth with some onion flakes until tender. You love this, especially the lima beans. You also like spaghetti, strawberries, pears, kiwi, black olives, cheerios, carbs of any kind (crackers, biscuits, bread, goldfish, etc), rice and beans. You have figured out how to use the snack cups and love to stuff your face with goldfish and cheerios. 

You love to read! I've found you multiple times on top of the fireplace with your stash of books, thumbing through the pages, reading to yourself. You love the books that have places for you to touch on the pages (like the furry dog, the bumpy truck grill, etc). You will pull books out of a box of toys and bring the book to me for me to read to you. 

This month you learned how to walk! You now walk more than crawl and are getting really fast at walking all around the house! 

You like to be on the MOVE! It's hard to get you to sit still for pictures now! You have learned how to crawl in things, such as your wagon. This is how I found you this morning! Other things you have crawled in: the bathtub (no water), the bath seat while in the bathtub, you have crawled under large toys. 

Other things for me to remember:

- I was still nursing you about 5-6 times a day. However, we are slowly starting to wean. By this, I mean that I am no longer nursing you before nap times. So, we're now down to nursing 4 times a day (as of two days ago).

- You are getting pretty good at going down for a nap or down for bedtime awake and settling yourself to sleep. You still need your paci and lovie to go to sleep. At night I've resigned to turning on a fan for white noise- one of those things I said I'd never do...

- Current sleeping schedule: wakes up at 7:00 am, up to play and eat breakfast until about 8:30 or 9:00 am, then down for 1.5- 2 hour nap. Then up to play, eat lunch, run errands, etc, until about 2:00pm, then down for 1-1.5 hour nap. Then up to play, eat dinner, bath, etc, until bedtime at 7:00pm. You sleep from 7:00pm- 7:00 am. No more 10:30 pm feeding! 

- I've stopped giving you pureed foods completely. 

- You're not a fan of car rides lasting longer than about 15 minutes. This should be interesting as we travel to San Antonio in 2 weeks. :) I've come up with all sorts of things to keep you occupied- snack cups, sippy cups, paci's, books, toys, naming different animals and saying their sounds, etc....

- You LOVE animals of any kind. You especially love going to see the horses down the alley or the sheep. You love Bella the cat, but she doesn't love you all that much. 

- You are saying "doh, doh, doh,", "da-da-da", "neh-neh-neh", "ma-ma-ma", and I think I've heard "no-no" a couple of times. Pretty sure it's "no."

-You are still wearing size 9 month clothes. You are tiny and petite! I think you've gained some weight, though, and I'm curious how much you will weigh at your one-year check up next month.

I love you, my little ladybug! I love being your Mommy, I love that you're my little girl! You are at such a fun age, happy most of the time, sweet, so, so cute!