Before I go off on the "I can't believe you're already 11 months old..." tangent, I'll just dive right into all the firsts you did this past month. Because, my beautiful baby girl, there have been a LOT.
1. Crawling. Just past your 10-month birthday, you started crawling. You were a little late in the game, but you sure figured it out fast. One day you were just plain ol' crawling, the next day you were a speed demon. Now, you're from one end of the kitchen to Bauer's food dish in 1.2 seconds flat - faster than mommy can get to you! And when you can't crawl, you are unhappy. You love moving and exploring and getting to things you want. And you huge booty makes it super cute to watch you move!
2. Standing. You started pulling yourself up on EVERYTHING this month. You won't stand on your own, and when anyone tries to put you down you hold your feet straight so that you get put into the sitting position, but you stand on everything. Chairs, the dishwasher, book shelves, beds... you are getting into everything. Everything is new and exciting. Especially things you're not supposed to play with. You sure keep us on our toes! Speaking of toes, I should also mention that when you're standing up, you are ALWAYS on your tippy toes. You'll stand on your big feet for a little bit, but then you're right back onto your tip toes. You just try to get as tall as you can so you can see more of the world!
Haha funny story... mommy put you on the floor in her bedroom so she could run quickly to the bathroom. 20 seconds later, you popped your head in the bathroom. There are 4 stairs in the bedroom to get to the bathroom. You climbed the stairs for the first time!! It was very funny, but very scary - you did this without being watched!!
Peeking around the corner
3. Crawling with one leg up. You love the grass... but you're more interested in eating the grass and little treasures you find in the grass than actually touching it. So, you've started crawling on one knee, and one foot straight out. It's quite funny to watch, and mommy loves laughing at you!
4. Bath time is still one of your most favourite things. You can be whiny and grumpy and just plain miserable, which is rare, but once you hear the water, you crawl over to the tub and watch it fill up with water. Then, once you're in it, you are as happy as a clam. Wait... are clams happy? I guess so! But you just love your bath. I keep buying you more bath toys but all you want to do is suck on a wash cloth and stand up in the bath, only to push yourself back into a sitting position with a loud splash and laugh. Mommy does not like getting soaked this way, missy!
5. Sleeping. For a few months, you went to bed at 7pm and slept until ~7:30am. Mommy LOVED it. You didn't wake up at all. Then, this past month, you changed the game plan. You now wake up sometimes just screaming your little head off, then once you see me, you hunt for my necklace, you hold it in your little hand, then put your head on my shoulder and nod off to sleep. While mommy loves these 2am wakeup calls, I could most definitely live without them. Twice, I've had to actually feed you to calm you down! And our 7:30am wake up calls have ended as well - they now come at 6:30am. Mommy's already awake then from daddy's alarm clock, but that extra hour of catnap was sure nice! You can go back to sleeping normally aaaaaaanytime now!
At Addyson's 1st Birthday Party!
6. Eating. Once upon a time, I couldn't feed you enough. Any kind of solid food in front of you and you scarfed it down like I hadn't fed you in days. Now, I put a bunch of food in front of you, you eat what you want, and throw the rest on the floor for Bauer. You'd think Bauer would like you with this new arrangement, but he still doesn't. But that's for another numbered story! You aren't necessarily a picky eater, but you just don't want to eat as much. So I don't have to be overly creative with your food anymore. Sometimes, when you're really hungry but refusing to eat, I have to mask it with yogurt or fruit cups. Mommy tricks you into eating just like she tricks Bauer into eating. You two are one in the same!
7. Hair clips. You look sooooo cute with hair clips in your hair. Namely, old people don't ask me if you're a boy when you're wearing hair clips. And they are just so cute. But this past month, Mommy has lost about 74 hair clips because you pull them out when she's not looking, and you throw them away. I don't know where you throw them, but I'm pretty sure one day I'll find a stack of hair clips in the corner somewhere. I get the impression you don't like wearing them... but tough luck. You're going to wear them again one day!
Yup! Pink toenails!
8. Your first word. On July 20 (just past your 10th month birthday) you said your first word. And it was... drum roll... Bauer. Mommy thought she was mistaken, and asked you to repeat it and you did. I pointed to Bauer, said "who's this?" and you replied with "Bar." You just love that dog. And he still hates you!!
(see: #15)
9. Your toys. Mommy keeps buying you toys, with the hope that you'll love one enough to leave her cell phone alone but, alas, I cannot. You hate toys, but love electronics. You've since discovered Daddy's laptop and keep climbing all over him to get to it so you can bang on the keys. Once, somehow you made his computer screen flip completely upside down. I don't even know how he fixed it!
10. Walks. I haven't found much that you don't love yet... except chicken... and falling (haha). But another thing you love, is your walks. We take Bauer for at least 1-2 walks everyday and you just look around, smiling at everything, taking it all in, and talking up a STORM. You just talk, talk, talk on your walks. And say hi to the puppies we pass, and you smile wide for strangers. You are so much fun to take on walks!
11. About a week ago, Grammy & Grampy stopped by to see you. You crawled over to the gate, saw them, then took off crawling super fast. It's almost as if you get so excited that you don't know what to do except run away. You sure do love your Grammy & Grampy! We also drove to Lethbridge one day to visit Grandpa Butch in the hospital and you were in fine form, showing off for everyone how you crawl (on one leg!) and crawl up on stuff. Grandpa Butch just thought you were the funniest ever!
12. Elmo. Every time you see that Elmo on tv, you just get a huge grin on your face and you stop what you're doing to watch him. He's like crack for babies. You love Elmo!
Watching Elmo
13. Clacking your tongue. I don't know how you learned this, or where you got it from, but you started clacking your tongue this month. And you do it all day long. All we hear is "clack clack clack" from you. When I clack my tongue, you do it right away with a huge smile. It's just adorable.
Mid-Clack
14. Mommy taught you "Soooo Big" (you raise your hands in the air) and then you clap for yourself. You love clapping. You clap for everything. You eat, you clap. You poop, you clap. You fart, you clap (actually, when you fart, you laugh first, then clap for yourself... I think that proves you're part Sobol!). You clap for yourself for everything. This weekend, we were camping with Auntie Jill, Uncle Curtis (Rich) and Kaeson, and you were in your playpen while we were eating and I asked you how big you are. You were standing there, holding onto the side, and you raised your left hand. Then you put your left hand down, held onto the railing, and then raised your right hand. Then, with your one hand still holding onto the playpen, you clapped for yourself (with a huuuuge smile on your face).
I should also mention here that you ALWAYS SMILE. You're just always smiling! You're the happiest baby EVER!
15. You love climbing onto the bed (Mommy has to help you cuz you haven't figured out climbing yet) and then you race to Bauer's bed, and lay in it. You love it. You also love crawling over to the window ledge and watching the world outside. You try to get close to it so you bang your face on the window haha!
16. The day before your 11th month, you started giving kisses. Single handedly the CUTEST thing ever. Mommy said "Aryn, give me kisses" and you opened your mouth and put it on (over) my mouth. Then Daddy asked you for kisses and you did the same thing. You also gave Kaeson kisses. It makes my heart jump every time you do it. You are just the sweetest baby girl ever.
17. This month, Mommy started a Baby & Me Strathmore group so that once a week, we can get together with other mommies and babies and just hang out and play. It's become quite the little event! I am very excited about it every week, and you've made some great friends with Keegan, Treydon, Sierra, Reid, and a few other little friends. I haven't gotten a photo of everyone together, but here's a photo of you hanging out with other little babies at Addyson's 1st birthday party!
Just a couple other things... you were an awesome camper this past weekend. We went to Gull Lake from Friday-Sunday and you were great on the drive there, you slept alright, and you were just a super happy baby. You were kind of mad that you couldn't crawl around (you kept eating the rocks...) but you were just such an awesome little camper. Mommy and Daddy were so proud of you!
With Daddy ; Climbing on Auntie Jill and Kaeson!
Also, your very first home - 128 Camden Court - is now sold and we bought your second home. Mommy and Daddy are excited for our new home, but I am also sad that the place you first started crawling, and climbing, and all of your other firsts, will now be someone else's home! We do love this home and we can't wait to make a million other firsts with you in our new home!!
It has been a wonderful 11 months, Aryn. Mommy and Daddy love you soooooo much!! Next month is your 1st birthday... I can't wait to celebrate with you!!
Family Photo!
