eleven months

Lou Lou:

Your eleventh month has been a pretty tender one for me. You're getting so close to a year old. I feel like I haven't captured moments like I should've. I feel like I haven't snuggled you enough, stared at you enough. I suppose it's just the difference of being my second baby and having to share my attention. But my goodness has the time completely slipped away from me. You are both my little tiny baby and my toddler all in one. I have one month left before I lose you to official years. And I'm trying so very hard to freeze moments and store them in my mind for later, when you're big.

This month you started real live walking. You rarely crawl now because walking is much quicker. You have the cutest waddle of a walk too - nice and wide so you can keep your balance. You also often grab your blanket whenever you leave a room, and it trails behind you. I love that little vision in my mind of you with your blanky following behind you.

You are obsessed more than ever with reading. Any book will do. Many times a day, I feel a little tug on my pants, and I look down to see you holding a book up, and then you jabber some jibberish, which is to ask me to read to you, and you have these eyes. Dang those eyes. It's impossible to resist. I always plop myself down and read whatever it is you've brought me. My favorite is the Sunday school manual, which you're seriously obsessed with. You lugged that thing around with you all day once. But mostly you love books with flaps and the Llama Llama books. I'm fairly certain you think the llamas are dogs because you head bump them and try to lick (kiss?) them like you do every single dog you see in any book. You ADORE reading time with Belle. She's the one learning to read, yet you are much more of a fan. I don't know what it is, but when you see the reading stuff come out, you go BALISTIC. You also bring me puzzle boards and ask to do them. It's actually really funny doing puzzles with you - I put pieces in, you take a few out. And repeat.

You know where your (and other people's) nose is. But you only tell us when you feel like it. When we ask you, we can see in your face and hear in your giggle that you know but just don't want to perform. I like that about you - your own little will that fits you so perfectly. But sometimes - when you're feeling particularly happy - you'll whip out that index finger and jab us in the face. You're a total ham. You smile the scrunch smile to strangers. People seriously cannot resist you. Of course, you don't want them to take you. Just to love you.

You LOVE LOVE LOVE dogs. You totally freak out when you see one. That "oh!" face and clapping and giggling. But you only like some of them. If they are strange dogs - new dogs - you don't want them to come near you. But the familiar ones - Grandma Lichelle's and Cousin Ty's - you're happy to let them lick you. You also do a little jig when you see balloons. And you do a total dance concert when it's bath time. It's probably your favorite time of the day.

You got a horrible virus this month. It started with a raging fever (which we hoped was teething - nope!) and ended with a really awful rash all over that has left some scarring (it should fade as your sweet baby skin is continually healing itself). The rash didn't bug you, however, thank goodness. It just scared your momma to bits and ended with a pointless visit to Instacare during Sunday school.

You still have no teeth. Gum gum gums. But you still eat like a pig. You seriously will eat anything. You're not so keen on purees, mostly because I think you know that we aren't eating it, so why should you have to? You have to eat everything your sister does. Your sleep - eh. Some nights you sleep all night. Some nights you wake up screaming. Teething? Pack N Play? Hungry because your gums can't chew enough food? Who knows.

You're a dare devil. You jump off things, climb ladders, slide down slides, step down stairs. You want to know how to do whatever we're doing. Now. And so you try again and again and again and again until you master it. You love your sister. A lot. I can see in your face how happy it makes you when she shares or plays with you. She's doing a lot better at being your friend, and I think it makes you feel incredibly special.

You say "mama" and "mommmeeeee" when you're really desperate. I once thought I heard Belle yelling for me during nap time, but it was you! "Mommeeeee!" You say "Dad" (sometimes Dada) all the time. When he comes home from work, you run to him (literally, run) and say, "Dad, dad, dad, dad." For quite a while, you've been obsessed with the B sound. Bah Bah Bah. Whenever we practice with Annabelle, you get particularly excited when we practice B. But I think I finally figured it out. You're saying Belle! If ever I ask you to say her name, you say, "Bah!" and smile real big.

Only one month left baby. Let's slow down a little. Let's just be a baby for a few more minutes. Mommy loves you more than she has words.

Love,

Mama

NOTE: If these photos look like wonky, it's because they are. Due to a certain husband's work schedule, I did these solo again. All of these were shot literally from the hip, not looking through the view finder or looking at all at what I was shooting. With a flash that - if it were a cat - would be on probably its twelfth life. Um, yeah. Piece of junk. So sorry about the weird lighty/awkward angles. I didn't get the profile shot of her face either. I tried. But the camera wasn't having any of my dance moves slash take a picture at the same time garbage at that point. Oh, and that outfit? Hmmm. That's pretty much what I pulled out of the closet this morning. So we rolled with it. We're pretty much just rolling with it all the time around here these days. :)

Here she is at one month.

Here she is at two months.

Here she is at three months.

Here she is at four months.

Here she is at five months.

Here she is at six months.

Here she is at seven months.

Here she is at eight months.

Here she is at nine months.

Here she is at ten months.