11 Months?!

Addi Dance

I have never been more convinced that time flies. I have said this every day since Addi was born and now the count down has begun until her birthday. I am both anticipating and dreading it! I will have a 1 year old! She is so not a baby anymore and is getting very close to toddling. I am feeling a little (a lot) nostalgic lately. These 11 months have been absolutely amazing. Since our family is far away, we'll have a small celebration here on the actual day. Since its Easter weekend we'll bring Addi to our church's egg hunt and have lots fo family time together. After that, we will have a big party when we go to visit in May and we'll be sending out the invitations soon! Yay for celebrating Addi and her life!

Developmentally: Addi now says "Mama" and "Dada" (sounding more like "Daddy" every day), "Ut oh" (when she drops something like her pancake this morning) and "Nana". She blows kisses, reaches her hands up to tell us she is done eating, also puts her hands up when asked 'Who is so big?". She can put her toys away in their boxes and she loves to play and dance! So much fun. She now eats just about everything and feeds herself well. She has also graduated to only using sippy cups. I have found Cheerios in her diaper (uneaten), under my bed, in her pjs... haha, I use my hand held vacuum a lot!

She is cruising all over the house, standing on her own for a few seconds and walks holding on with just one hand on the furniture or holding our hand. Walking is just around the corner! Thankfully, I feel wonderful that our whole house is baby proofed and she can go wherever she likes safely. She gets up and down from standing well and loves to explore. She is very good at climbing up and down the stairs safety but we don't let her do it without us. She also understands "No" although it isn't always a deterrent for climbing the stairs! She usually laughs and goes faster (as I get slower). Today, I put away her pack and play and exersaucer because she has out grown them. No confining Addi! I feel like I have my house back since they took up so much room and Addi now has more room to play. We got her a new car seat this week (early birthday present from my parents) because she was getting too big and uncomfortable in the infant one. I also moved her into her new clothes- 18 months! She is growing too fast.

Although Addi is becoming more and more of a toddler, she is also becoming more and more like a dog. Like our Roo Roo. She crawls around with things in her mouth, "cleans up" her Cheerios with Roo from her swing, lays on Roo's bed, follows her around, kisses her, can't wait to see her every morning, waves to her every night... etc. I think she has learned more from her than us! Haha, she is wonderful and I get teary when I see their sweet relationship. Having a pet has given us the opportunity to watch them bond and teach her lessons like "be gentle". It will help when she becomes a big sister! I love my girls!