Juliet 11 Months!

Okay, how on earth are you a month away from being ONE? I cannot comprehend that. Where did this year go?!?

You have made leaps and bounds this past month and are starting to seem less and less "baby" and more and more "toddler" each passing day. Man, parenthood is such a weird tug and pull of wanting you to grow and achieve new milestones, while at the same time mourning you outgrowing sweet stages of life.

Without a doubt your biggest achievement this past month is that you started WALKING! Daddy got home from work, squatted down, stretched out his arms to you and you straight up walked into his chest for a cuddle. How special is it that we both got to witness your first steps!! Lolly was in town visiting and we happened to catch some of your first steps on camera! So proud of you, little one. Since then you have pretty much mastered the walking thing. Sometimes it still surprises me to see you come around the corner on two feet. Gosh, you are so stinkin' cute I can handle stand it.

Your becoming more capable with your hands. You wave "bye bye" with some consistency now. You love to turn the pages on books and open and close the flaps. You love to find a hairbrush and "brush" your own hair. (A few times I've let you brush my hair, but a couple of hard smacks in the head has put a pause on that activity - ouch! 😝)

Speaking of brushing hair, your hair is long enough to put into a tiny, hair-fountain, ponytail. Oh em gee.... again, SO cute! So fair you don't pull on it or take the bow out, yay!

Now that you're walking you're having a lot of fun exploring and getting into things. You love to play in the shoe basket, open the cabinet door and play with the pots and pans, and LOVE when you find the bathroom door open, taking the opportunity to play with the toilet paper!

Olivia started school this past month, so two mornings a week it's just you and me, sweet girl! We are both enjoying the time together just the two of us! You are so cute and chill, so often Olivia steamrolls over you and steals (or demands) attention... so it's been so great to have a dedicated time to focus just on YOU! 

You got to meet your great grandma on Daddy's side, GiGi, for the first time this past month too. Daddy's Aunt Diana and GiGi visited with us one night. How cool is it that you have two living great-grandmas? So special!

I'm not sure why, but you love being upside down. When you're sitting in our laps you like to fling yourself backwards and laugh and laugh and laugh.

Gah, you're so sweet and cute. I'm loving this age. I love getting to know you more and more. We are so fortunate to be your parents. I'm so in love with you!! Happy 11 months!!

Olivia 11 Months

Olivia, baby girl. I cannot believe you've been here for 11 months!!! Where has time gone? Every blog I write something about how wonderful life is now that you are here and how I am just bursting with joy to be your mommy. That hasn't changed this month. You are the best thing that has ever happened to Daddy and me and we are so thankful to the Lord that we are your parents. 

That being said... this month has really tested my patience as you have definitely started exerting your will and expressing your desires. Mix that with your new walking independence and you're a handful.  You are fast and curious and want to get into everything. Like any baby your age. You're learning about the world around you and you want to test limits. 

You love to climb! You try to climb the stairs no matter what obstacles we put in your way! You've learned to scale the baby gate that we put on the stairs, so we've had to put a yoga mat over it to impede your ability to grab onto it and pull yourself up (... it's a great look... I think decorators will soon be making this a trend). So you've decided that climbing the side of the stairs is almost as fun and you make mommy so nervous. I haven't yet found a great solution to this problem, but you're definitely keeping me on toes dashing to pull you off multiple times an hour.  You also try to climb the bookcase, couch, and climb into your toy bins. 

We keep super duper busy and I'm grateful to have a packed schedule because it keeps you entertained. We go to story time, kindermusik, and have lots and lots of playdates. We hang out with your baby best friend, Samantha, and her mommy a lot and that's been really great for us. We go on a lot of walks and enjoy going to the beach and park. Swinging is a big favorite of yours and you also like to go down slides with our help.

This past month you've had more teeth pop up! You now have three on bottom, your two front teeth on top, and two more flanking them are right there trying their hardest to come through. 

We're putting your new teeth to use by giving you more and more solids and experimenting with table food. This month you've learned to feed yourself and some of your favorites are blueberries, grapes, raisins, carrots, chicken, black beans, tomatoes, bananas and, of course,  you still love avocados. You've also tried greek yogurt, some cheese, peaches, mango, apples, strawberries (you loved these for a minute but seem to be over it now), rice, squash, and zucchini. You've also learned to drink water from a sippy cup with a straw all by yourself. It's pretty stinkin' cute. 

When you were still pretty new I thought you might be introverted, but I'm pretty sure I was wrong. You are happiest when you are around other people. You can self-entertain, but you prefer to be playing and interacting with someone! Some of your favorite things to do are to roll a ball back and forth, play peek-a-boo with daddy's hat, chase the dogs, play with the dog bowls, and you LOVE reading. It's the cutest thing when you read with daddy. You'll hand daddy a book and then plop down between his legs and read together and it's just so sweet! You help turn the pages of books and particularly love flap books and books with textures. One book we read has a polar bear that you love to kiss each time, and it's so cute. 

Like our fireplace baby proofing? haha!

You love being outside - especially with daddy - and love exploring. Picking up leaves and sticks and acorns is a great way to keep you entertained. 

You're sleeping better!!! HOORAY! Well, let me restate that... you're sleeping better at night! Unfortunately, you're not napping well during the daylight hours. You seem to pretty much protest naps most days. And girl, you are persistent. You can scream and fuss and cry for ages before finally giving in to sleep. 

Also, you've recently started having some stranger anxiety. You cry now when we leave you in the nursery or with a sitter and it's hard on mommy. You reaching out for mommy or daddy and screaming just breaks my heart. 

I spent my first night away from you since you were born this past weekend. We both did well and I'm proud of us pumpkin. Plus, you had a blast hanging out with daddy. 

My first night away from you this year compared to the same time and place last year when I was waiting for your arrival

You don't have too many words yet. But you can say "mama" "dada" and sometimes "zoo". 

Let's see... what else happened this past month.... oh! You celebrated your first Halloween. We had a friend from Atlanta sew your costume and it turned out so cute! You went as Little Bo Peep and mommy and daddy went as your flock of sheep. We pulled you around the neighborhood for about 45 mins and you had a lot of fun people watching and "participating". You collected some candy but we recycled it when we passed candy out at our house later in the evening. 

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment from the last month. You are our joy and we love you so much!!!! Happy 11 Months baby girl!!!