Eleven Months

Eleven months.  E-L-E-V-E-N M-O-N-T-H-S! How has it come to this, the last monthly update before one year?!?! I'm afraid for May 22nd to come because I'm getting teary just typing this post! :)  I know each  month I talk about what a fun age it is but I think this is, so far, my favorite.  Charlotte has just developed such a cute personality and I LOVE getting to see it each day.  Yes, some days are loooong, but most days are wonderful and I'm so thankful that I'm getting to witness each one of them! 

This last month had some not so fun things.  Like our first ear infection and trip to the sick side of the doctor's office.  But this month also had lots of fun things like Easter and my birthday.  And all but one of the weekends this month we spent at home which meant lots of Daddy time!

Charlotte is still a hilarious eater.  We are still on our "gain weight" plan and so we let her eat -- a lot! -- at each sitting.  She eats a lot of table food...well, maybe I should phrase it as we give her a lot of table food.  She refuses to eat "real" veggies which baffles me because she loves baby food veggies.  But when we try and give her real veggies or sneak them into her mouth she simply opens her mouth, reaches up, and pulls them out.  Not even slightly interested.  It would be funny if they didn't usually end up in her hair after that!  She is a VERY messy eater and loves putting her hands in her hair when they have food all over them.  But she does still love to eat.  Some of her favorite things are yogurt melts, lil crunchies, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, most meats, most fruits except bananas, goldfish, and strawberry/banana cereal bars.

Charlotte has become much more aware of her people and who she knows and who she doesn't.  She still smiles at most people when we're out as long as she didn't just wake up from a nap, but she knows who her family and friends are.  She amazed us last week when we were at dinner for my birthday by pointing to my brother, Uncle Charlie, every time someone asked her where Uncle Charlie was.  She does still prefer me if I'm around and when I'm holding her and someone else holds their arms out to take her a lot of times she turns in to me giggling playing a game with them.  But she loves her DaDa and says DaDa a LOT during the day.  It's probably her favorite word!

Charlotte has become quite the mover these days as well.  She's been pulling herself up on furniture since January but now she's standing by herself for a few seconds if we're holding her up and then let go or if she doesn't notice and she's let go of something to move on.  If she notices that she's standing by herself she immediately sits down.  We're trying to encourage her to walk (although I'm not sure why since it's so much easier with her a little slower getting around!) but she won't take more than a step and fall in to me from Jason.  She does "surf" the furniture very well though but isn't really interested in trying anything else. The funniest development movement wise this month has been the introduction of her new favorite pose -- she is already working hard on her hurkey for cheerleading tryouts by practicing them on the floor nearly every time she sits down! It looks painful when she brings her leg back to the front of her from her side but she doesn't seem to mind!

Charlotte has grown this month.  At the doctor on the 15th she weighed 17 lbs 14.8 ounces which is over a two pound addition since her nine month checkup.  She is wearing almost exclusively 12 month clothes now although she can still wear 6-9 month pants (12 month pants fit too).  And she's wearing size 3 diapers.  I am so excited for the weather to get warmer because she has such cute 12 month clothes for warm weather and not too many for cooler weather.  Hopefully it will stay warm from now on. 

She is still nursing four times a day (8 am, noon, 4:30 pm, 8 pm) and sleeps from about 8:15 pm until about 8 am.  She eats three meals a day and might get a snack if we're out and about and I need a distraction.  But since she eats exactly halfway through her time between naps there's not really another opportunity for snacks.  Charlotte takes two naps a day for two hours each (10-12 and 2:30-4:30).  I am SO THANKFUL that it appears that she loves sleep as much as I do.  Hopefully that love will continue!

Charlotte has become more vocal this month.  She discovered that she can scream and does so in delight a lot more than I would like.  She is saying DaDa regularly and says MaMa occasionally.  She also says yesh/yeah some also but never on command.  Earlier in the week she was playing with my belt loops and I told her to stop it and she almost perfectly mimiced "stop it".  She did it once more that night but I know she was just saying what I said and didn't really know what it meant.  We are impressed though with the number of words that she knows.  I knew she knew words we use all the time like our names and Luca, etc but we love asking her for something (her piggy, her toy bag, her passy, Luca, her bunny) and watching her either turn and point to it or go and get it.  It is so much fun watching her grow and learn!

I'm sad that this year is coming to a close.  This has been, by far, the best year of my life.  I have so loved being with Charlotte all but a handful of nights.  I will be thankful that some things of this year will be over soon (nursing namely -- what a blessing but also what a committment!) but I will be sad to see things go.  This week Charlotte found the poles for her activity gym that I had disconnected from the mat to wash it and store it and she wanted to play with it with the music on for a little while.  It brought back so many memories of days when she couldn't even roll over and would just lay on her back and stare at the sun and toys above her.  Sometimes its hard to remember her being that little and helpless when I look at her now always moving and crawling all over the place.  I know she'll always be my daughter and she'll be little for a few more years but I have so loved these first months with her. 

Happy eleven month birthday baby girl! In one short month you'll be eating cake with the rest of us and probably toddling away from me as fast as you can.  But know that I am loving every minute of being your Mommy.  I am the luckiest person on earth for being your Mommy.  You are SUCH a blessing to your Daddy and me and we love you more and more each and every day!

love Mommy