eleven months

Dang. Eleven months. Once upon a time I was talking to my dad about how quickly life seems to pass by and I made the comment that once I had kids maybe it would seem to slow down a bit. He just looked at me, shook his head and said, "Nope. It just goes even faster." And he was right.

On a day to day basis, life has slowed down. Meals seem to stretch on interminably, walking hand in hand from her bedroom to the living room can take half an hour, and when we go for strolls every time she acts interested in something we happen to be passing I try to stop. Just to let her explore and take it all in. But in the grand scheme of things, the last eleven months have been a blur. Like, I see pictures from March and I think how tiny she looks and now it's July and she's changed so much.

At eleven months Avery loves us, the pugs, playing with her food, dancing, being outside, swimming, riding in her car, putting random non-edible things in her mouth, and eating the spines of books. She dislikes stern voices and going to sleep. She gives the sweetest kisses and though she'd previously been reserving her sweetness for baby dolls and Oscar, she now gives kisses to Mommy & Daddy.

Avery has really started dancing and girl has some rhythm! She really gets into songs like Bugler's Holiday & Summertime. Deran loves that she grooves to that music and he often plays his trumpet for her at night.

Avery's always had some issues with going to sleep. I get that she doesn't want to miss anything, but man does she fight sleep sometimes! In the picture on the left side of the middle row, she's totally asleep...SITTING UP. She's been trying to just sit straight up without the whole roll-over-use-my-arms-and-push and it's really cute to watch.

I don't think it'll come as a surprise to any regular readers, but when it comes to discipline...wait, what's discipline? In our defense, she's still a tiny baby and she doesn't really do anything bad! However, we are trying to steer her clear of the DVD player and of course anything that could be harmful. Daddy's made her cry a few times by telling her no. It's totally tragic and followed by cuddling and an explanation of why we don't want her to do whatever it was she was trying to do. I didn't get yelled at and spanked as a kid and I turned out just fine! When my sister & I were bad, my mom would make us hold hands and sit on the couch together and that's tough love folks!

So most people think Avery looks like Deran but apparently she has my penchant for putting anything in her mouth. My mom says she could sweep, vacuum, etc. and I'd still find some random thing to put in my mouth. Totally Avery. That needle in a haystack? From a mile away Avery would be all, "What hay?! All I see is a needle and I must have it on my tongue!" But she's really great because when I touch her chin and ask her to let me see, she opens her mouth and whatever it is is usually on the tip of her tongue.

Eleven months is really fun! Avery is more interactive and has such a great personality. She signed "all done" for the first time on her own last night when she finished her dinner and I couldn't have been more excited or proud. I'm hanging on to these baby days, but I'm also looking forward to the future.



Happy 11 month birthday baby girl, we love you lots!