Audrey Joy, 11 months old

Audrey Joy turned eleven months old on October 18th. 

This month went way too fast. Audrey grew more than she ever has this month. The proof is in the pictures. Seriously, she looks so much older. Hey, she even acts so much older. There's no getting around it, she's losing her babyness faster than my head can spin.

This month was big for milestones. She started talking here and there with her first word being "mama" and "dada" was close behind. Her first real word (because mama and dada seem to be a given) was actually her own name! How is that for narcissistic? Or we just say it to her over and over all the time. She also fake sneezes, which sounds quite similar to her name. :) I have a video at the end of of her saying these words and it just makes me grin like a fool. She's the sweetest.

She also took her first steps about two weeks ago! Although she isn't walking, she will take a few steps from point A to point B if there is a friendly face on the other side. She walks around all the time hanging on to furniture or ledges but doesn't do much more than plunge forward (to her knees or stomach) when we try to encourage her to walk on her own. She thinks it's hilarious though, so she'll egg you on like she might just do it and then bear hug you instead. It's not so bad to be bear hugged by a busy eleven month old!

She and Josie are playing more and more every single day. They will sit next to each other and read books, exchange blocks, throw towels on each other (their favorite game in the whole wide world), or tackle each other. Rarely does it end in tears and Audrey is slowly starting to hold her own. 

Sleep hasn't changed. Still waking up once or twice at night for that wonderful pacifier and/or a change of diaper. Bedtime is 7:00, wake time is usually around 7:30, although we've had some good late wake ups around 8 or 8:30 a couple of times this month. Those are strange. I've been looking for signs of switching to one nap but that doesn't even seem like it's on the horizon at this point. She desperately needs that morning nap and sleeps great in the afternoon too. 

She still eats almost everything in sight and has only refused a few things. Off the top of my head, I remember she didn't like sliced turkey (?), canned carrots, and frozen carrots. So carrots are not her friend. Other than that, she loves everything. She needs to, too! She needs a lot of food to keep up her crazy reputation.

This girl moves. She moves and wiggles and race-crawls and squirms all over the place. She doesn't get into things (all things, safe or dangerous) like Josie did but she just keeps going. Rarely will she sit and play with one thing for very long and she is constantly climbing up my leg, my lap, my arms, and then back down. She loves to practice walking with one hand held and like I mentioned earlier, she thinks its hilarious to "walk" to me by plunging full force in my direction. She's lucky I'm usually paying attention because if I wasn't she'd face plant for sure. She must trust me or something.

She's just finally starting to sit still for stories when I try to read (as fast as possible) a book to her. If I time it right (fastfastfast) and point all over the page, she'll sit still until the end (as long as it's under 5 pages). We're working on it. We hang out at the library every once in a while and I usually let her crawl around in the children's corner but I cannot leave her side for a second. Hello, tornado! One kid grows out of that stage and the other right into it. :) Thank you God for the Moby Wrap (and that she still fits in and tolerates it). 

Her health has been awesome and we definitely don't take that for granted. No ear infections, no rashes (other than a bad bacterial infection in the diaper area that we got antibiotics for. That was no fun.), and no colds/flu symptoms. I'm praying that we make it through the winter without breaking this streak.

She's waving and clapping too. She loves doing both and grins and grins at whoever the recipient is. That smile never ends. Until it does. Then it is an all out screamfest. She has some theatrics in her. We love her ooooh so much!

11 months old, looking pretty different these days. Audrey obviously didn't get the rash that Josie sported for almost a month, and the hair just doesn't compare.

And the video! It's not too long, definitely worth a watch (or two).