11 Months

Really? Am I really typing 11 months for Catherine Ellis - surely my sweet baby can not be that old? Where does the time go? The days fly by, faster and faster the older she gets. David and I were laughing in the doctor's office today that we've figured out why people have more children - their babies start growing up and there is just something about a baby that you can hold in your arms (when she wants you to!) and rock and cuddle and who needs you for everything.

Now don't get me wrong, that same baby is hard, hard work and there are just as many moments when I look at her and say "how do other mommy's do this with more than one?" But God is faithful and has given us just the right amount that we've been able to handle; I don't always handle having a child as gracefully as I would like to, but every single moment has been more than worth it. She is the joy of our lives - life is not the same - and that's what is so much fun!

March 9, 2010 - 11 months old

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him
1 Samuel 1:27

No truer words have been spoken in our lives! Thank you Lord for your blessings!

Now on to the fun part - what is our 11 month old up to you ask? We'll do 11 fabulous things with one to grow on:

• Catherine Ellis is MOBILE - she's quite the speed crawler - we literally run laps around our house in the mornings and on the weekends (thank goodness it's a small house!) - we love it!
• She has 7 beautiful teeth and still likes to grind them from time to time (we're trying to stop this but aren't sure how to)
  
• she has added bye-bye, baby, uh oh to her vocabulary - that makes her total words - 7
• she loves books and being read to - she turns the pages so well and we think that makes her so smart (Aunt Wren told me that it's a developmental characteristic they look for in kindergartners, so of course, I think we are WAY advanced, haha)
• she's pulling up on everything - it's still a bit of a struggle, but she gets so excited when she does, so it's worth the work
• she has the cutest round belly - she's growing out of most of her 6 month clothes finally:) We are still in 6-12 month clothes, but I bought a few spring things in 12-18 months and they are wearable
• speaking of belly - she weighed in at 20.4 lbs this morning at the doctor - go CE - this child has been in the 25% percentile since birth - so we are excited that she's going to be riding like a big girl in her forward facing car seat in a few more weeks
• her hair is changing - it sticks up all over the place now and nothing you do can make it lay down flat - is this the beginning of curly hair? We sure hope so!
• she's eating more and more table food - but still loves baby food (when she's not sick). Avocado is still hands down her favorite food.
• transitioning to the sippy cup is not going so well - she hates it - and normally throws it on the floor - we're fine with that - she can have a bottle as long as she wants (just kidding, but she still has a few more months before we really have to enforce the cup)
• she is still sleeping through the night - Praise the Lord! - and has been again since 8 months - it's been a really nice past 3 months. Typically she's down by 7:30 p.m. at the latest and sleeps until 6:0o a.m. Some mornings are earlier - but on average she makes it to 6:00 a.m.
• she falls asleep on her own - I still rock her a bit before bed to soothe her, but most of the time she's still awake when I lay her down and she falls right to sleep.

Silly girl!

Happy Birthday precious child - Mommy and Daddy love you so much and can not believe that in a mere 4 weeks you'll be a whole year old! Thank you for all the joy you bring into our lives! We love you dearly!