11 Months

Today our sweet girl is 11 months! Only one month away from a YEAR. I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed at how quickly time is flying by. I can look back over the last year and picture the days flipping by, full of activities, decisions, plans, prayers, joys, sorrows, day-to-day life. It seems like so much and yet...it happened so quickly!

Ben and I knew that this precious first year of Eliana's life would fly by in the blink of an eye. We were determined before Eliana was even born to treasure each day, each moment with her, especially since she is our last.

And I think we really have done that. I got really teary a few days ago when I suddenly realized it was almost the 20th and my sweet girl would be 11 months and I started to feel almost panicky. It hurts to let go of this baby stage. Having a baby is full of so many things: joy, fear, exhaustion, anticipation, holding on, letting go, and so much more. I adore my boys and it's been so exciting to watch them enter a new territory that I haven't explored yet with kids. Reading, writing, elementary school, losing teeth, learning to ride bikes, and so much more.

But there is really nothing like watching a new little person learn how to live.

 We have watched our little girl learn how to recognize us, smile, laugh, love her brothers, roll over, crawl, pull-up, communicate, and so very much more. Wow! It's truly amazing.

This is why I make such a point to take a bazillion pictures and journal even the smallest thing happening: because I want to remember, to treasure, to hold these moments close.

This past month has been very exciting for Little Missy. She thinks she is hot stuff these days!

She:

*Is getting faster and faster with crawling and pulling up even in the past few days.

*Learned to cluck her tongue in the past 2 days ~ very cute!

*Thinks exploring the house and finding the boys' toys and little scraps on the ground is far more exciting than sitting quietly on the rug and playing with her toys:)

*Spends lots of time in the kitchen pulling all my cookbooks off the shelves and ripping them up. I rearranged the kitchen today:)

*Is such a content baby! Truly a happy little creature.

*Has learned to say "Mamama" and says it to me! She also says "Ma ma ma" for "more" in her highchair.

*Has learned some sign language: "All Done"  "More"  "Light"  "Train" and possibly "Eat". She also waves bye-bye and hi:) Sometimes I think she is trying to sign something to me and isn't sure quite what to do. Can't wait to see what else she picks up in this next month!

*Has found a new love for tossing things out of her crib! We almost always come in to find her standing with a big dimpled grin on her face, the floor littered with pacifiers, her pink elephant and Dolly:)

*Has 2 bottom teeth! Next in the queue are 2 fangs on the top....haha

*Has started dancing! She bops her little body up and down; like today when Z was playing his guitar. She pulled up on the couch and danced for 2 minutes:) So cute!

*Is like a wild monkey in the bathtub! The past 2 days it has been hilarious to watch her. She doesn't sit still for a second, just crawls, pulls up and down, plops on her little rumpus and even lays on her tummy. She screams at me when I take her out:)

*Is definitely going through stranger anxiety. If we are in a new place and she even thinks it might possibly be possible for me to set her down or hand her over, she turns into me and holds on tight and starts to cry:( When she's in my arms she looks from the new person to me and back and forth, as if to gauge my reaction.

*Wears size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. I get comments ALL the time about how small she is. Most of the time it doesn't bother me....until people get snarky and act like something's wrong with her. Like the mom who asked me the other day if I feed her well. No comment. She is perfect the way she is!

*Loves table foods! She has started to veto oatmeal, unless it is mixed with lots of fruit, so I am trying to come up with new breakfast ideas. She doesn't like bananas, only tolerates small amounts of yogurt but adores vegetables, bread, cheese, black beans and more! I tried to give her mandarin oranges the other day and she made the most horrible (hilarious) face ever after one teensy taste and refused to touch anymore! Girl knows her mind:)

*Has started to hold on to things with one hand when standing up. The only time she really lets go is when she in the bathtub probably b/c she thinks it's funny to splash on her bottom! She is getting very confident with her pulling up and has progressed from stools, chairs, couches, etc to the fronts of cabinets, walls, my legs...pretty much anything:)

*Screams with joy and practically turns inside out when she sees her brothers, especially first thing in the morning. They adore her, too!

*Has a bazillion and one nicknames, if you already couldn't tell:) Some newer ones are: Biscuit, Spicy Biscuit (usually after a tantrum), Puddin' Pop, Marshmallow, Powder Puff and more:) She still regularly gets called: Missy, Missy-Goo, Sweet Girl, Pumpkin, etc. You'll even hear the boys calling her Missy and Missy-Goo every day!

*Is adored, treasured, spoiled-rotten, and kissed and squeezed a thousand times a day.

Okay, I'm going to have a little cry in private now...