...Eleven...Twelve...

     Eleven Months                                           Twelve Months

So much development takes place during a child's first year, it makes your head spin.  Time passes, and in its wake are the things that defined a stage of development now overcome by the next.  Old tricks that once brought delight for observing parents have been left behind for new skills that bring just as much satisfaction to watch unfold.

I have loved watching Ella grow this past year.  Just as it is hard for me to remember what our family was like before we had her, it is hard for me to think of her as anything other than what she is at present.  That's why I remind myself of what she was doing during each month so I can revisit and reminisce.  So, yeah, these posts are really for me...and Ella.

And you can call me a "mommy blogger," because that's what I am.

Ella at Eleven Months

 Now that Ella has mastered crawling, she is lightening quick.  Open a door, and she will be there to slip through it as if she were a cat that had been locked out on a cold night.  She especially loves the bathroom door.  Yes, she has unrolled the toilet paper a number of times. She also likes to get into my drawer of make-up. Many a drawer and door has been closed in her face, and she does not like that one bit.  What I do not like is how she insists on climbing up the ladder to the top of the boys' bunk bed. Good thing she has impecable balance. Ella is confident and asserts herself into activities that others are doing.  She's not afraid to reach over and grab a toy from someone if it piques her interest. (Won't that quality be fantastic for when she goes to nursery?) 

Ella at Twelve Months

 A doctor appointment confirmed what outside observers have commented all along.  Ella is tiny.  Well, really she's just  lightweight.  She's actually tall for her age group, but she only weighs 17 pounds, 5 ounces. It makes her easier to carry, though, so I'm not complaining.  Her top two teeth broke through at Christmas.  I thought that was fitting (All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth). Those will come in handy now that we've been given the go-ahead to switch all baby food for table food.  Ella loves the new change and independence that comes from feeding herself.  She also loves to smear food all over her face and in her hair.  She has grown to like drinking milk from a sippy cup, but I haven't given up nursing entirely, yet. Ella's hair is now long enough that I have to blow dry it after baths and we are contemplating trimming the bangs.  She is developing socially, too.  She'd much rather stand on the church bench backwards and look at faces rather than the back of heads. It is easier to interact and blow raspberries at people from that vantage point. She loves the opening credits for the TV show Bubble Guppies and when she hears it, she stops what she's doing to go and bounce to the beat at the foot of the television. Very near her birthday, Ella took her first steps. I guess that's just it.  Keep moving forward!     


Here are a few more pictures I took of Ella in her birthday tutu:

I took her pacifier out of her mouth to get her to look at me (hence the excessive drool).

She did not like that very much.

Okay, I think she's had it!

This post authored by Amber