11 months! The last of the month-days

I can't believe it.  Delaney is 11 months old.  Although I am sure I will do some more-frequent-than-yearly updates on the child, this feels like the end of the official month-day timeline.  It's funny how we go from measuring childrens' ages in weeks, to months, to years.  For example, the fact that Justus is four AND A HALF is very, very important to him.  I think, by his age, most people measure only by year, so that half makes him that much closer to five, which is huge to a kid that age.  But, it's not like he's going to say "I'm four and ten months" in a couple of weeks.  The months no longer seem as significant.  Yet, at Delaney's stage of life, each month produces fairly siginificant changes.  So, let's do the rundown:

Weight:  Not entirely certain, but I'm predicting 18ish pounds.

What she's wearing:  Size 3 diaper. 6-12 month clothes and size 3 shoes when I can get her to keep them on.

Food:  3 bottles a day, and 3 solid meals, plus a snack each day.  Favorites: avodacos and potatoes take the cake right now (no pun intended, she's never actually had cake).  She also likes green beans, peas, carrots, meat, pasta, mandarin oranges, peaches, and bread.  Okay, basically, she's not turned down anything I've given her lately.  Still rockin' the two bottom teeth and that's it.

How she's eating:  She's doing a great job with self-feeding.  I do find that when I pull the high chair tray away, I often wonder whether she actually ate, or decided to save most of it for later.  :-/  She loves her straw sippy cup, still having no use for a regular one

Mobility:  Man, this girl can cruise!  She will pull up on anything around her and use it to get from one place to another.  I've even watched her use a wall to cruise.  Her favorite thing, however, to pull up on, is a person wearing pants.  She's about pulled down everyone's pants just using the pantlegs to get to a standing position.  I actually ran from her this morning because she was trying to get to me to pull up, but I couldn't be immobilized since we were trying to get out the door.  Don't worry, I went back and picked her up.   Sheesh!  She can and will crawl, but you can tell that she'd much rather have a grown up finger to guide her while she practices walking around.  Better yet, she'll guide you around.

Other developments:  Just in the past week, she has really started finding her voice.  Her "talking" has increased significantly and she loves screaming/squealing, obviously just to hear what is sounds like.  Her laughter is still one of the best sounds to my ears, especially when coupled with her brother's as they play together.  She still loves Peek-a-boo best of all.  She waves hi, but not usually on demand; in fact, often after the person has since left the room.  She has started blowing kisses in her own way (i.e--we're probably the only ones who know that's what it is, but we do!).  While she will be temporarily entertained by toys, she still prefers human interaction.  This is a huge change for us from Justus because he was content to sit and play with whatever toys you put in front of him.  Not sufficient for Delaney.  She wants people to play with, mostly her big brother.

A few people have given me a hard time (laughing and smiling as they do, of course) about putting her in pigtails at this young age. 

But yesterday, as I was trying to capture her 11-month picture, I also seized on the evidence justifying why you often see her in pigtails or a pony tail or some other attempt at hair control.

Just look at that madness!

So, happy 11-months to my little angel!  I'm fairly certain I will positively be a mess in less than 30 days when you hit the one year mark (although, I am pretty excited about the party we have in store for you).  How could that have happened so quickly??  I swear I was not this bad about Justus growing up.  It must be because you are my last baby.  I am so thankful for every moment I have been able to share with you.  You are my sunshine!!