11 Months Old

Dear Butterfly,

You are now 11 months old. And what a busy girl you are! You keep me on my toes during the day. You love to be held, and to play either in my lap or right next to me on the floor. There are only 3 things that will let Mommy have some alone time...Juice, Soot, and books. You love books. You are also so great at cruising and pulling yourself up on things. When I am at the kitchen table I see these cute little fingers peep over the edge, followed by the top of your head and then your eyes. It doesn't matter that the kitchen table is taller than you are. You pull your whole self off the ground to see what I am doing.

When you do play with your toys, you like to have at least one toy in each hand, and the more you can pack into your hands the better. You will dance to music and you are starting to laugh because we laugh. And then we laugh because you laugh...it's a very cute circle. You are also babbling up a storm. You will seem to talk in all sentences and then wait for my answer. If I don't say anything, you will nod your head up and down and say "AH!" really loud.

You used to make the sign for nursing, but that seems to have stopped now. Although it does seem to come up during dinner a lot still. You are eating solid foods with more zeal, but still continue to prefer nursing to any other mode of eating. You love apples, stars (little toddler cereal puffs), squash, asparagus, peas, carrots, black beans, bananas, oatmeal, tofu, potatoes, chicken, and guacamole. Boy do you love anything that has a spice to it. Guacamole is your favorite! When nothing else will do, guacamole is accepted. Looks like you got your father's taste buds.

Everyone tells me that you look like me. Even little kids. And everyone admires your eyes. They are such a different color...not quite green, not quite brown, not quite blue. We are waiting to see what they end up being but they have settled into this color for a few months now.

You are growing so tall. You are already 33 inches long and weigh around 23 lbs. Not surprising since both of your parents are tall but you are just amazing how tall you are. You can already reach the door knobs on doors if you stretch. You are also learning to stand but have a tendency to fall on your head and bruise it. Poor baby. You still love swimming and are getting more and more into it every time we go.

Soon you won't be a baby anymore. I'm just starting into planning for your first birthday. I can't believe it's almost been a year. This time last year I finally felt like I could eat food again, and I was getting anxious/excited about your birth. I'm so glad that you are here, and that you have such a fun personality. I love the baby you, and now I'm looking forward to knowing the toddler you.

Love,
Your Mommy