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Monday, August 22, 2011

Eleven months? What?

Dear Baby Girl,

Baby girl? Can I even call you that anymore? In so many ways, you aren’t a baby anymore. You have become such a big girl right before my eyes. But I don’t care, you’re still my baby. I am finding myself in shock that this is the very last letter I’ll write to you until we get to your big first birthday. I am so excited to celebrate this milestone with you.

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For now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Sweet girl, just like always, you are the light of my life. My absolute joy. Your personality shines more and more with each passing day. You are stubborn, determined, and hot-tempered just like your father (okay, and maybe your Mama, too). You get your mind set on something and when you do – it has to be done. I’m hoping Daddy and I can figure out how to channel this fierce determination into a positive trait!

Your hair and your tan have certainly transformed your looks into those of a toddler. Here’s how you’ve looked this month:

11thmonth growth

You’ve been up to so much this month but the biggest progress has been in your motor skills and your words.

You took your very first unassisted steps on August 4th. I saw you take three steps on two separate occasions. And then, you didn’t walk again for exactly two weeks. Then, last Thursday, you took seven unassisted steps to your Auntie Marcia. That night and the next day you continued to take a few steps here and there. Most of the time, it’s only when we coax and encourage you, but sometimes, you stand up and walk on your own. For the past month or so, you have loved to walk around holding our hands, and quite frankly, you don’t need to be holding anything. Your confidence has been building and you have been getting braver and braver. Not too long and you’ll be running. I’m trying not to pressure you to walk fully too much because I know you’ll do it when you’re ready. For now, you’re mostly happy to crawl and scoot. And can I blame you? Why would you want to walk all wobbly like and fall down when you can get what you want in 3.2 seconds when crawling?

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You have been picking up new words at a rapid speed. Right now your favourites are: Dada (or Dad), Nika (Ka), Chicken (CheeChin), Up, Cup (Up itch), Papa, Nananana, Mama (but you mostly only say it to cookies) Uh Oh, Ta Da, Puppy (Pa Pee) and All Done. You are starting to try to mimic and repeat our words. You sign eat (by smacking your lips together), all done, puppy and more. You love to clap your hands, wave and blow kisses and point your finger.

Speaking of kisses, your hugs and kisses have been the funniest thing lately. You are a fan of the open mouth kiss and are willing to kiss just about anyone. You love to kiss Nika as well as your dolls and stuffed animals and the faces of babies or animals in your books. One day, I saw you playing with Daddy’s hunting magazines and you kissed each deer on the face and then signed “Puppy”. And a few weeks later, you were kissing Auntie Julia’s coach purse. You got good taste, girl. You also love to give hugs. For a while, I was the only recipient but you’ve started to be a little more generous with the hugs lately. You lay your head down on the shoulder of the person you are hugging, pat their back and say “Awwww”. Every time you crawl onto my lap to give me a spontaneous hug, it melts my heart into a puddle of mush.

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You are a little monkey and love to get into things. The other day, I caught you sitting on the door of the dishwasher. Then a few hours later, you were in the blanket box. You love to play on the bed and couch. You flop like a fishy out of water and love pillow fights. You love your Baby Doll. You love to make whisper sounds in my ear. It makes you laugh like crazy. You love to play “how big”, skype with your Nana and be tickled. You love to be outside, especially if you are watching the chickens. You also love to play fall down – where I say “Eva fall down and go boom” and you fall on your butt.

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You still nurse 4-5 times a day but also love your solid food and your sippy of water. You’ve started having little tastes of cow’s milk here and there. Early in the month you started sharing your food with everyone. You always hold out your hand with your food and expect whoever is feeding you to “take a bite”. What a sweet girl you are to share your slobbery mush with everyone.

We’ve been enjoying our summer by spending time at the park, the beach and in the pool. You went camping for the first time this month and had a blast! I can’t wait to enjoy the last stretch of summer with you as we make our way to the big one year.

swimmin

I love you my sweet baby,

Mama.

8 comments:

Jackie said...

The "awwww" when giving hugs is so precious. Peanut still does that at nearly three. :)

Ashley Paige said...

she is so big. so big. i mean, she's like.. a little girl. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? i love her little tan. beautiful as always!! takes after her mama, duh :) happy 11 months, Baby Girl!!

This Texas Momma said...

Discribing how she hugs made me want to laugh and tear up all at the same time! What a sweet little girl!

Shannon Dew said...

awe she is too too cutet!!! she makes the funniest faces, I love seeing pics of her! OMG so next month is the BIG ONE! how are you feeling about this?

Gina said...

Her language? Amazing. She and G are going to make some cute babies. :)

Amber @ Backwards Life said...

SO so sweet! BTW, you can call her "baby" for as long as you like. I still do HAHA :-)

Carrie said...

She's getting so big! Miss you guys! :)

Lucky in Love said...

She's growing up so fast :) Good job Mama. She's a cutie :)