11 Months!

Holy Cow, Lila Jane! You are 11 months old!! (Plus a few days, because Mommy is behind. Again.) How did this happen?? We are facing having a TODDLER in the house, and I'm still not used to the idea that we have a newborn. You sure have sped up time in our little family.

So what are you up to this month? EVERYTHING, it seems.

You're still pretty tiny at under 20 pounds. I don't have your current length, but you seem really tall. I can't decide if that's just because you're so thin, though! We'll get official height and weight at your 1 year doctor appointment.
You're still an excellent eater, but you're definitely starting to show preferences! You always go for fruit and bread over vegetables. Generally, you go for fruit over about anything! For breakfast, I can never really figure out what to feed you. It seems boring to give you the same handful of typical breakfast foods every day. You already kind of shun Cheerios most days. I've starting trying to think outside the "breakfast" box and give you some other things. You LOVE having lunchmeat for breakfast, and this morning you chowed down on green peas.

You're still taking your bedtime bottle, but I'm trying to wean you off it a bit. We'll have it gone by your first birthday, but that doesn't give us much time. I think we might just have to go cold turkey soon, and see how you do. You take plenty of milk from your cup throughout the day, so I know you don't "need" the bottle, but it's a part of your routine that you AND mommy really enjoy.
Your language has taken off by leaps and bounds this month!! You definitely know the difference in an affirmative "nod", and a negative "shake" of the head!! We can ask you questions, and you answer appropriately most of the time! It's SO nice to be able to ask if you want more milk and get a real answer! You are able to make some sort of sign (roughly) for bye-bye, all done, touchdown, high five, sit, turtle, and bubble.

You can say the wordsn(with appropriate use), Mama, Dada, nana (nono), nigh nigh, sit, bye bye, hiiii, AT (cat), AT (hat), and maybe a couple other words that I've heard once or twice, but I'm not really sure if you are really saying them with meaning yet.
You're really working on those gross motor skills, too! You spend more time standing than sitting these days, I think. You are SOOO busy!! You constantly move from one place to the next, with your little fingers scouring out something new to play with and explore. About a week ago, you started standing in the middle of the floor with nothing to pull up on! You tried it out first in the bathtub. That's why you know how to sign AND say the word "SIT"! Mommy CONSTANTLY uses that word when you're in the tub!! You think it's very funny to say "sit" while you're standing there grinning at me! You also think it's very funny to take things off Daddy's end table. I'll say, "Lila Jane!" and you'll look at me and grin really big as you shake your head "nononoooo". Sometimes you'll just keep taking his things, but sometimes you actually stop what you're doing and move on! YAY for good listening!!

Today is 4 days past your actual 11 month Birthday, but I have to put in here that you pretty much took your first step tonight!! You've been standing SOOO steadily, and I kept standing you up and encouraging you to walk to me. You still really want a hand or two to hold onto when you're taking steps, but I finally got you to lift one foot up and move it just a wee bit forward! BIG STEPPER! Mommy and Daddy are SO proud of you!! I have a feeling that by the time I write your 12 month post, you'll really be taking steps across the floor!
Some of your favorite toys right now are your nesting cups. You love to play with them in the bathtub when you aren't busy standing! You are able to nest about four of them without any help at all! Of course you also love mommy and daddy's phones, keys, and any remote. You have really gotten attached to your IKEA burp cloths. They are nice and thin and big and just perfect for your little hands to rub and wad and hold, or even for you to chew on. You always sleep with at least one of them. Mommy likes to keep one with you all the time because they are also GREAT for cleaning snotty noses and drool and milk dribbles and all of those messy things you like to do.
Our first big scary adventure was this month. A couple weeks ago, you were playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed. Daddy was in the shower, and Mommy was watching you. You were sitting very nicely near the edge of the bed when you flipped backward right off the bed!! It scared us both SO much! I scooped you up and checked you over, and all seemed ok. We rocked for a while, and you calmed down after just a little while. Much like Cousin Collin, a cup of milk goes a long way when you're upset.

That happened on a Saturday, and you didn't act quite yourself the rest of the weekend. I waited, thinking you were teething, or tired from the big weekend, or maybe getting sick or something. But by Monday, I just knew something wasn't right. You were acting really stiff, and you would scream when I laid you down on your changing table. I took you to the doctor, and they didn't find anything wrong. Some of your teachers thought maybe you were just scared, and felt like you were falling every time I laid you back. It made sense, so we decided to just give you some Tylenol and see how you did. By Thursday, though, you were still really stiff! Daddy took you back to the Doctor Friday morning, and they still couldn't find anything wrong just by checking you over. They suggested that we do x-rays to rule out any bone fractures. I was SO nervous thinking about having to do x-rays with you, but you did AWESOME!!! Daddy and I both went with you, and we laid you down on the big table. We had to hold you down, and you didn't like that very much, but I started singing to you, and you just calmed right down enough for them to snap the quick pictures, and we were done! I was SO proud of you!! The x-rays came back all clear, so we were very thankful! Our sweet cousin Chantelle, who is a chiropractor, had suggested that we do some massage and exercises with you, so we've been doing those, and you really seem to be doing MUCH better now! You're still a bit stiff when you turn to one side, but I can definitely see major improvement over the last few days, so we are SO thankful. Mommy has felt HORRIBLE that you've been in so much pain. You haven't seemed to hold a grudge, though. You still give Momma big wet sloppy open-mouthed kisses all the time! Sometimes you even remember not to bite my lips! :-)
Lila, before you were born, I told everyone that I did NOT want you wearing tons of lacy stuff and pink stuff and all that girly business. Well, this outfit is not technically lace, and definitely not pink, but I have SO MUCH FUN dressing you girly!! I love to find you silly clothes with tons of accessories for every season, holiday, and day that ends in "Y"! I figure life is certainly something to celebrate, so I put you in PARTY clothes almost every day! You might look back at pictures some day and hate me for it, but I'll NEVER regret the fun I have playing with you.
Lila Jane, you are the light of my life, and the apple of your Daddy's eye. You exhaust us and delight us. You make us crazy with your standing in the bathtub, stealing Daddy's wallet, and falling off the bed, but we wouldn't trade one crazy minute with you for any day without you.
Hats off to you, kiddo. The next big "month" post is going to be your big 12/12 birthday. Yes, my itty bitty baby will be one year old. I refuse to believe it until it happens, but just in case it's actually true, I've been fiendishly planning your birthday party. Yes, there will be crazy clothes and accessories, and yes there'll be a crazy birthday cake, and most of all, there will be crazy love for my crazy girl.

We love you, Lila Jane. Bunches and bunches like grapes and bananas.