11 months

11 months! 

Weight: 19 lb 8 oz

She's learning so much these days! She loves signing and picks it up really fast. She signs "more" and "food/eat" in addition to "milk" and "all done". Also started signing "please", "ceiling fan" and puts her finger to her lips for "shhh". 

She LOVES to play ball now, and "throws" it by dramatically letting go of the ball once she holds it up. She still loves singing songs and makes the hand motions to Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Patty Cake. She loves her books - reading them or chewing on them ;)

Favorite foods: blackberries, pizza, Mac and cheese, crackers 

Had her EI evaluation and wasn't delayed enough (needed to be more than 25%) to qualify for a physical therapist. Great news because she has made such progress since her 9 month appt. A week after her evaluation she crawled a few inches for the first time, and started fully crawling January 22nd. She stands for long periods of time with only one hand for balance now, and lifts her feet to take steps when you walk her around instead of keeping her knees locked. 

She spent most of this month sick with one cold or another unfortunately. She ended the month with a febrile seizure which took years off my life! Everything was fine in the end though. 

We had a cake smash photo session that we won for free from a friend's sister-in-law, and it was a blast! She loved her first taste of pure unadulterated sugar - a pink velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I made her crown and tutu, as well as the stars for the background. We based it on the theme for her birthday party, Twinkle twinkle little star. The pictures turned out really well and I'm so glad we have them!

With crawling, she is becoming much more independent. She doesn't cry instantly when I leave the room anymore, and ventures away from me often, both at home and away. 

She's making so many fun noises, and trying so hard to talk. She loves crawling around after the dogs and cats at my parents' house and shrieks whenever she sees them. 

We are working on learning how to put things away or inside of other objects. She doesn't focus too well on these kinds of things generally. I am hoping to find some new ways to start teaching her things through play - usually we just have free playtime but puzzles, shape sorting, building blocks, etc are things I want to start working on together. I also want to start introducing her to more arts and crafts!

I can't believe this girl is turning ONE next month! This year has passed unbelievably fast but I'm so lucky to spend everyday with her discovering the world!