11 months old...

I can hardly believe that in a month you will be a year old. At 11 months old you are standing by yourself, and seriously contemplating taking this first steps. You are pulling yourself up on to everything, and have finally given up the army crawl. You have 2 teeth on the bottom and 2 teeth on the top. You love grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and anything that we are eating. You are starting to "talk" more. Not speaking any words we can understand, but making more noise than ever. You have begun to mimic things we do, like stick out your tongue, point to certain things, clap your hands, "blow " on hot food, and wave bye-bye. You now DANCE, and I love it! No one taught you, but you rock back and forth when you are on all fours, or bounce up and down putting your hands in the air when you hear music. You hate to lay still and have your diaper changed, you love to bite me when I tell you no, and you still love to snuggle with me at night before bed.

Long Awaited Reunion

After an almost 9 month wait in between visits, Aunt Mitzi finally came back home! She hasn't been home for 3 weeks straight EVER since she moved to the west coast 3 years ago. I was so excited to have my little sister home for such a long period of time, even though I knew her visit had everything to do with wanting to see you, not so much me!She didn't want to run up and hug you, for fear that she would scare you forever, and you totally looked her up and down checking her out! It only took you about an hour to completely warm up to her, and you guys had so much fun together the 3 weeks that she was home. She watched you while I went to school and work, and after only a few days you started looking for her in the mornings. She taught you how to climb the steps, high-five, and gave you pretty much anything and everything you wanted. You two definitely bonded and I am pretty sure we will be seeing her on the east coast a little more often now!

Bubbles

Aunt Mare bought you a container of bubbles when we were down the shore. You loved them! You like to stick your little pointy finger out and pop them, then you let out your sweet little giggle. Now you get excited when you see me grab the container...if only bubbles could make you that happy forever!

Grange Fair

When Aunt Mitzi was home, the Grange Fair was going on, so we decided to take you there one night. You love the dogs and ducks at home, so we thought for sure that you would be excited to see all the animals. I even was thinking that I would take you on the merry-go-round. You were so completely overwhelmed by all the people at the fair. You didn't cry, but the look on your face was sheer horror. You were acting so unlike yourself, that you even had me a little scared. We wheeled you up to the animals and you just stared. You didn't point, or chatter, like I had pictured. I finally picked you up and held you. Whispered in your ear that everything was fine, and you started to warm up to the fair in about an hour! I didn't dare try to put you on a ride, fearing I may traumatize you more than I already did. You are so much like me, you like to stand back from afar, take it all in, and then slowly but surely you finally start to relax. Maybe next year you will have more fun!

10 months old!

At 10 months old you are all over the place! Climbing on to everything, pulling yourself up, getting up the stairs! You have finally decided to incorporate "regular" crawling into your army crawling, but you still prefer the latter. You even let go of the couch for about one second yesterday and stood before falling. You have TEMPER, like I would have never thought, and that so comes from your Daddy. You like to bite me and shake your fists when I tell you no or take you away from something you aren't supposed to have. You have two teeth on the bottom now, and the ones up top are definitely coming soon. You are still an awesome sleeper, never giving me any trouble. You love to wave bye-bye at everything, especially the doggies.

A Visit from Maya

Now that you two don't see one another everyday, it's really cute to see your reactions when we get together. You are both genuinely so excited to see one another, it just melts my heart. One day last week I watched Maya for Aunt Jen, and got the pool out for the both of you. You had so much fun, and were chattering away with one another, almost as if you were discussing everything that had happened since you last saw one another. I really think (and hope) you two have already created an unbreakable bond, which will stand the test of time.

Lunch Date at Nonna's

Since Nonna doesn't drive we try to get up to her house to see her as much as we can. She loves to have you over, and can't wait until you are old enough where she can actually feed you! Which just happens to be her favorite thing to do! You love to crawl around and explore her little apartment, and when her favorite soap opera came on, you snuggled right up with her on the couch and watched TV with her. You are such a good little girl, and I know Nonna loves you so much!