Kate is 11 months old
Dear Kate,
I cannot believe you are just one month shy of your first birthday. It was this time last year that I looked like a whale! Little did I know what a treasure God had in store for Daddy and me. You've changed in some significant ways these past few weeks, Little One, but you've stayed the same in others: your sweet demeanor and easy going spirit have not changed a bit! Here are some things you've been doing:
* Walking!! Just after you turned 10 months old, you took your first steps. After just a few short weeks, you've become a pro! You're even able to change directions or stop to pick up a toy without falling. Your motto? Why crawl when you can walk?
* You'll come to me when I call you. I think it's because I usually throw you up in the air and make you giggle when you get to me!
* Being such a busy bee, you don't lie still for diaper changes anymore. This makes things tricky. 'Nuff said.
* You caught your fourth cold. You still have it. You strongly protest when I try to wipe your nose. You're so congested that you can't drink your bottles. We're trying to push a lot of solids to make up for your calorie loss. Not fun.
* You're making a little bit of progress with eating more textured food. You love puffs now, and you'll even eat Cheerios pretty well, too. We have to be careful serving you table food because so much of what we eat contains dairy. It'll be another month before we have you allergy tested to see if you've outgrown your milk allergy. Anyway, I tried to feed you some scrambled egg, but you gagged and spat it out. We still have a long ways to go!
* You figured out how to drink from a sippy cup, but like your bottle, you won't hold it yourself. It would really be nice if you'd take over that duty!
* Last month I think you were saying your Ds and Bs very well, and now you've added M to your repertoire. The last few days have been nothing but "ma ma ma ma ma." Now when are you going to realize that Mama means me? I don't recognize any "words" yet. You don't seem to consistently call anything a name.
* Your fourth tooth came in! It's your top right one. I think the other one is coming through, too. We sing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"
* You love to explore the house to find what you can get into, play the piano, mess with Kirby's tags (they make a fun jangley sound), eat books, and chew on toys. You are good at playing by yourself for a few minutes. You don't need me constantly next to you.
We love you very much and can't imagine life without you.
Love,
Mama (and Daddy)
Diaper size: 3 (about to switch to 4 when we run out)
Sleep: 6:45pm - 7am
Food: 4 bottles per day, totaling about 28 ounces (when you don't have a cold). You get three solid meals of stage 2 and some stage 3 foods that aren't too textured.
Because Kate has a cold, I just took some pictures inside today of her playing.
This monthly elephant picture is awful! It's the best I could do, though. Kate kept climbing up over the back of the chair, plopping down, then laughing and laughing. Then she repeated that over and over.
