Dear M: Eleven Months Old

My Dear Miss M, I cannot believe we are a month away from your first birthday! It really doesn't seem as if that much time has passed since you blessed us by joining our family. But so much has changed in that short amount of time. Especially in the last month!

You are a full fledged walker/toddler. It started with your first steps and now you are walking everywhere! You almost start running when you get excited or are playing with your brother. You are quite balanced on your feet and can stay upright for a long time before you take a tumble or trip. Shoe shopping was quite fun! We got you your first pair of Stride-Rite shoes (pink w/ pink & orange hearts!) in a size 3.5 and as soon as they were on your feet you took off down the mall path.

I am also loving how verbal you are becoming. Not only can you say a few words but your gestures and sounds are hilarious to listen to and watch. You are so expressive and really do let everyone around you know how your feeling. You have started making this little pouting face where you make an o with your mouth and go "whoo, whoo" with a scowl on your face when you're starting to get upset. Then if someone doesn't respond right away you start to cry. It's like the warning before the tantrum. Not that you have tantrums yet!

And the way that you are picking up on more and more signs excites me. You've started signing airplane and butterfly back to me. We started our sign language classes with Joann of Sign4Baby and I'm enjoying the time I spend alone with you. Mommy usually even gets to drink a cup of coffee after class while it's still hot! Hows that for awesome mornings? I can't wait to see what signs you'll start using next!

You are most definitely a Daddy's girl. You love your daddy and get excited as soon as you see him when you wake up and when he comes home from work in the evenings. On the weekends you aren't far away from him and you always make sure to know where he is. That includes being under his feet as he works outside or in the garage. And he's pretty keen on you too!

I'm still having a hard time figuring out your eating habits. You're still breastfeeding about every 3-4 hours however you do have interest in our food. I just give you bits and pieces of what we're eating and you eat until you're done. Never more than 4-5 bites though. And that's ok. You try a variety of things and know what you like and what you don't. And you love snacking on whatever Brother has on his plate! Good thing you don't have any allergies so far.

You are becoming quite the animated, excitable, and loving little girl and I love every minute we get to spend with you. You are even starting to grow on your brother a bit :) Love you, Miss M! You're one amazing girl!

Love,
Mommy

Dear M: Ten Months Old

(I promise to update with the usual crib and chair pictures soon!)

Dear Miss M,

I'm so sorry this is a few days late. We've been keeping ourselves pretty busy for the past few weeks but things are finally starting to slow down a bit (for maybe a week... then it's the holiday season!). You are not slowing down at all though.

You have amazed us yet again with your ability to quickly pick up on just about everything. You've started taking steps although I wouldn't quite call you a walker just yet. You've started saying words AND signing them! And you've started playing more with your brother. It's been amazing to watch how you've grown.

Pushing the walker around the yard

We always knew you were a strong little girl. From early on you always wanted to stand. When given the choice you'd stand while holding onto us instead of sitting. So when you started standing on your own and purposely letting go of whatever you were holding onto I knew that steps would follow. And they did!

While we were playing in you brother's room one day you decided to take two steps to Daddy from Mommy's arms! I was so excited that I had to grab the video camera. And we caught it on video. Over the past few days your interest in walking has only increased. You can take about 6-7 steps from one object to another but usually you are only motivated if you're walking to a person. I can't wait to see what this next month brings! You may be a walker before Halloween!

Where's the bird?

Your vocabulary is also expanding. You can say Dad, Mom, bird, dog, and uh-oh. I think I'm forgetting one more but it'll come to me. You can also sign bird, dog, and ball as well as signal when you want something (by grabbing in the direction of the object and pointing repeatedly) and when you want up or down. You wave hi and bye...

Oh! That's the other word. You say Hi! When you are saying hi to someone you say "Hi!" and wave. It's adorable. And when you first wake up you look over to see if Daddy is still there and if he is you say, "Hi, Dad!" It's adorable. And he melts every time (then you go to digging in my stomach).

What do you hear, M?

And your sense of play has only increased this month. You'll get down on the ground with your brother and play right by him. You grab a ball, throw it and than crawl after it to catch it. You knock over the towers that brother builds and love when he plays with his Little People animal farm. You love playing with the animals and little people. And when anything rolls under a couch, dresser or chair you copy your brother by lying down, cocking your head to the side and peering under wherever the toy went. It's so cute to watch! You even attempt to get the toy too if it's in your reach.

Riding Scout

You love playing with the dog. It's almost funny watching you hunt him down and surprise him by sneaking up on him. Not sure if he likes your game as much as you do but it keeps us entertained. I've started putting you on Scout and pretending like you're riding him and you giggle and laugh! He only kinda tolerates it because we're paying so much attention to him. But we have to keep a close eye on you because you've started to enjoy poking him in the eye and he just doesn't like that...

You've grown so much this past month, my little girl, and I'm so happy that you are in our lives. You bring such joy to this home and we are truly blessed to have you. We cannot wait to see what the next month brings us!

Love,
Mommy

Miss M's First Steps

I have been waiting for Miss M to attempt her first steps for quite a while. For the past few weeks she's been pulling up to a standing position and letting go of whatever she's holding onto to practice standing on her own. And I guess she feels really comfortable with it now.

When I set her down now I usually just set her down standing vs. sitting. I picked her up while we were playing in Brother's room and out of the corner of my eye caught her taking a step towards me before going down to a crawl. So I figured what the hey... lets see if she'll take a few steps. And she did! Again and again. And after each time she'd get this huge grin on her face and wiggle out of my arms to go again.

Then Daddy took over so I could get some video of her. I'm so proud!