11 Months!

We are knock knock knocking on the door of 1 year with Annie.  Tuesday she turned 11 months old.  As always, this month has been full of new developments and changes for her as she grows into a big girl.  I don’t know where my little baby has gone, but it gets more apparent each day that she has left the building and this sweet, smart, funny, precious little girl is replacing her.

I believe you call this striking a pose.  Oh boy.

Here are a few of Annie’s new tricks…

Walking: This is the big one, right?  I had a friend tell me I can stop qualifying this because most parents start to tell people their child is a walker after he/she takes a few steps – even when they are the wobbly, get-me-from-here-to-there-before-I-fall-down type of steps, but I can’t help it.  I’m a qualifier.  Annie is not walking well or even predictably, but each day she takes a handful of steps unassisted and without holding on to anything for support.  And she loves it.  I’m not sure how long we have before she is motoring all over the place on two feet, but I have a feeling it won’t be long.

Standing alone:  A couple of weeks before she started taking steps, Annie started standing on her own, without holding on to furniture or us for support.  The first time she did it, we were at our friends’ house playing in their fabulous baby/kid pool.  Now she stands alone pretty often, but we still make a big deal out of it so she is still really impressed with herself when she does it.

“Uh oh”:  Annie continues to add sounds and noises to her “vocabulary,” and she has added an honest-to-goodness word too.  I never thought any word could sound so cute, but this kid has got me with her new habit of saying “uh oh.”  Her little mouth draws up really small on the “oh” part and her inflection is precious.  And she says it at appropriate times – sometimes I think she throws something off the highchair or changing table just so she can say it.

The picture doesn't match the text - just wanted to share some pictures from our trip to our friends' pool.

Hugs:  Over the course of an afternoon, my mom taught Annie how to give hugs.  Now you can hand her a stuffed animal or doll and request that she “hug the bunny” and she will bring it up close to her face and squeeze it, smiling all the while.  She will do it to us too, if the mood strikes her.  Often, her preferred method of showing affection is to put her head in our laps, but every once in a while we will get an actual hug around the neck.

Using her push toys:  Annie fully understands the concept of push toys now – or really, walking behind anything that will move with her.  Toy boxes, toys, laundry baskets – if it is sturdy enough to hold her weight, yet light enough to be push-able, she will move it all over the floor.

Climbing:  Fortunately, Annie hasn’t yet attempted to climb out of her crib (and hopefully, thanks to her trusty sleep sack, she won’t try), but she has done a little climbing on other perhaps less dangerous objects.  Namely, my mom’s hearth, which is one step off the ground.  Oh, and there was the time she climbed up on to her dinosaur push toy.  That may have been a little dangerous, but she did it like a pro and didn’t act the least bit nervous (unlike her mama!).

Whoa!

I think this has been the biggest month for Annie’s personality development.  And one of the ways her little personality is coming out is through cuddling.  Which I am loving.  Once she got past the initial newborn phase Annie sort of stopped being cuddly.  She would rather be moving around than be held almost any time.  And although she is still very active and doesn’t sit still long, she does have more and more moments where she just wants to be snuggled.  And we are, of course, happy to oblige!  I can't believe the next one of these update posts I do will be for Annie's first birthday.  How time flies when you have no idea what you are doing...and are having fun!