The Calm in the Storm: 11 months!

Miss Jade was 11 months on Monday. Her birthday presents are piling up in our house, invitations have been picked out, and party is basically planned. I cannot believe that she is this close to being one.

This month has been interesting. In some ways, I don't feel like a whole lot has changed, but then I realize that she really has learned quite a bit of stuff.

I put together a "photo album" for her with 5 pictures in it. One of Chuck and I, one of Zoe, and one of both sets of grandparents (sorry Belle, couldn't find a good picture!). She loves to look at the book and has slowly started figuring out what to do when I say "where is daddy?". Sometimes she just grins and stares at his picture, but sometimes she points to it. Because we've been working on pointing so much, she's starting pointing a lot. I can't always figure out what she's point at though. Or even if she's pointing at anything. Sometimes she just stares at her finger.

She now has 4 teeth... two on top and two on bottom. Other than when we were dealing with that 4th tooth breaking through, her sleep has been amazing. She's only waking up once a night... or not at all. I admit that there were days that I thought this would never come.

She's started making some new noises while babbling... most of them I can't even repeat, but she's "talking" all the time. She still hasn't actually said "dada" to Chuck. Some days, it worries me that she's a bit "behind" but most of the time I just try not to think about it. I know that every kid is different and develops at their own pace. She'll talk eventually, I'm sure.

She actually still isn't signing back to us either, which is another thing that would worry me if I chose to think about it. She has a few times, and she definitely knows what the signs mean, so I figure she's just taking her sweet time signing back. It shouldn't surprise me... she's been on her own schedule since the day she was born.

She's walking with her walker wagon better than ever, but still rarely lets go of anything and sits down the second she does. It's a controlled sit, not a fall, so she's definitely getting stronger... but still isn't standing on her own. At this point, she could start walking tomorrow or at 13 months, I have no idea. She'll walk when she makes up her mind that she wants to.

She has actually started eating a bit less and getting a little more picky. I used to be able to throw everything on her tray at once and she would just eat it all. Now, I have to put veggies and meat first and give her fruit as a dessert or all she'll eat is the fruit and everything else gets thrown on the floor. She loves all fruits. Other than that, her favorite's are Mexican food (staying true to her heritage) and pancakes.

I was giving her dairy (yay!) and there was no screaming, but then I noticed that it does seem to be upsetting her stomach. I'm gonna cut it back out for a couple days and see if that fixes the problem or not.

She's still wearing 6-9 months clothes (with room to grow) from Carter's and 6-12 month stuff from Gymboree and Old Navy. I really think it'll fit her most of the summer, but we'll have to move her to the next size at the end of the summer. Her shoes (Robeez... the best) are 3-6 months. Her little feet are apparently tiny.