11 Months

Darling Girl, 

Happy 11 Months! I cannot believe you are almost a year old. Soon you will no longer be considered a baby, but instead a toddler. You will always be my baby, the apple of my eye. I say this every month, but time is going by too fast and I am trying to soak up every moment while you're this little.

You are 17 pounds and 30 inches long. You are still wearing almost all 12 month clothing and are starting to fit into some 12-18 month shorts and pants. Your legs are so long! We only have 3 pairs of shoes that fit your long and skinny feet - your Hello Kitty Vans, a hand-me-down pair of pink sparkly Toms and these yellow jellies. Your hair is so long it almost hangs in your eyes and has lightened to a sandy brown with a hint of strawberry blonde undertones. Your eyes are still blue, but continue to tone down with grey flecks. You still have no teeth, but have been perpetually "teething" for months with cranky cries and gnawing on everything you can. 

You are still nursing in the morning, but every once in a while you refuse me . I have a sense you are ready to wean and would be totally fine if you never nursed again, but selfishly I am not ready for that and will continue to offer you the chance to snuggle in your parent's warm bed every morning to nurse until you are a year old. You still drink three bottles of formula a day, along with three meals and a snack. You tried pasta, oranges, roasted corn, marinara sauce, and watermelon this month - you liked it all but the oranges. 

You sleep 11-13 hours a night, wake up around 7 or 7:30 a.m., eat breakfast and then play for about 2 hours until you take a morning nap around 9, then another nap around 12:30 or 1pm. Sometimes you'll sleep 30 minutes; sometimes it's 2 hours - it all depends on your mood, how you feel and how active you are. It seems the more active you are, the more you sleep! 

You are putting more and more sequences together. When I pull out a pair of shoes and hand them to you, you'll sit down and try to put them on your feet. If your dad or I hand you an empty spoon you can hold it by the handle and bring it to your mouth. When we are undressing you, you know how to pull your arms out of the sleeves of shirts and step out of your shorts. When we say it's time to go bye-bye, you wave bye or lean forward to give the friend we are saying goodbye to a hug. You have become quite the music lover - if music is on in the house or the car, you shake your head, wave your arms around and rock your torso back and forth. Your daddy found an old skateboard without grip tape on the top and we have gifted it to you - you will sit very still on the board and let us push you around the house.

We taught you how to point at someone if we ask  - I'll ask, "Where is Daddy? Point to Daddy" and you'll look around the room, find him and point at him then smile at us. You have become so affectionate with others - you'll reach for people to hold you, kiss them if we suggest it and hug as well. Other babies and children are your favorite, and you'll grab them, hug them and kiss them until we pry you away. You are so close to taking your first real step. You will "walk" between me and your daddy but it's really more a small leap than a real intentional step. You still love to clap, play peek-a-boo, raise your arms over your head when we ask you "How big is Brighton?" and then say "So big!" and get us to tickle you.

You also said the word no on the night of your 11th month birthday. It was the middle of dinner, as I offered you a puree pack, you looked at it, pouted your lip, shook your head and plain as day, said "No. No!" as you looked me in the eye. I couldn't help myself, but I laughed. It was a total shock. Girl, you're going to give me a run for my money!

Every night as I rock you, we sing a little song and you smile and giggle a little as I kiss your eyelids, then your nose, then each of your cheeks, then your mouth. I can feel my heart burst every time you grab my face with your tiny hands and pull me close for one more kiss on your face. I love you so much and I'm thankful for your love in return.

Brighton Love, you are true joy. You are such a good baby, not in the fact that you are easy (because you have been pretty darn easy), but your little spirit is just filled with goodness. You are love personified and I feel so privileged to be one of the people in your life that you love. I am totally smitten by your sweetness.

Happy 11 months darling girl. We love you!