one month shy

Of the big ONE YEAR OLD!

You still seem such a baby to me but have made leaps and bounds in some areas this month.

The greatest area (which also was an area of prayer--Thanks, Lord, for graciously answering these prayers!) is the area of eating. Although you are 11 months old, you had, until 2 weeks ago, refused any texture to your food at all. That means all table food was out, not to mention even stage 3 baby food. As soon as I could get it in your mouth, it was spit right back out. There have been so many times I wished you would feed yourself (oh, you will self-feed crackers and goldfish--so it was selective texture). I think this story begins with persistence on our parts, a broken peanut jar, and every bit of God's grace. One day, I found David in the pantry staring at a glass peanut jar that he had accidentally pushed off the shelf and broken. I quickly snatched you up and moved him. I was so thankful you were not in the pantry. Well, apparently God protected you, because a second later, I discovered something in your mouth. Thank the Lord it was not the glass! It was a peanut. I quickly decided that if you could be rolling around a peanut in your mouth for who-knows-how-long with no ill effects, then I could certainly try peanut butter with you. You liked your first two quarters of a pb&j sandwich but have become a bit more picky since then. However, this was the intro to chunky solids that you would tolerate. Peas and carrots and corn came next. You were not interested in the carrots or corn at all! The peas fascinated you and you would stick them in your mouth and roll them around your tongue for a while before spitting most of it back out (an improvement). One day, I tried chicken nuggets with you. They worked like a charm. You actually ate most of one and even swallowed much of it. Since then, I have discovered you will now eat stage three food without spitting out all the pasta etc..., you eat entire peas, and will now even eat bites of hotdog! Thank you, Lord!

You are still drinking more or less 4-8oz bottles during the day. You also will drink from a sippy cup too (thanks, Aunt K for the one with your name on it!) When you are done your bottle (or food), you often let me know by throwing down the bottle to the floor and taking off your bib. We do have a nickname for you- Miss Milk Mouth; you are not a neat eater.

Bathtime is a favorite time. You love to splash around. At other playtimes, fewer objects are going in your mouth (although plenty still do) and more are just being examined and held.

You are wearing entirely 12 month clothing now and still size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night. You refuse to keep headband/bows in your hair anymore, but Mommy can sneak in little bows sometimes. (unfortunately, they often highlight the extremely dry scalp you inherited from your Mommy; you are still dealing with cradle cap, even at 11 months old)

You are such a copy-cat! You began waving this month in response to others and love to clap! (we have done a lot of that as encouragement in the eating department). You are also beginning to mimic sounds.

Still not walking (guess you have to know you can stand on your own first :) ), but you can walk pretty well with us holding both hands. You can stand on your own (as witnessed one day for about 5-6 seconds when you were unaware) but have not realized it yet. (oh, you can climb the stairs quite easily though)

All these lack of developments have not slowed you down any though. This is why the teachers during the week requested you be promoted to the next classroom. (15 mos.-2 years) Hah! Funny to see you in there with all the bigger kids!

You do love bigger kids though...especially when they aren't smothering you. Your best bud is brother David and he just loves you to pieces! Sometimes you will even play chase with him, crawling around the floor.

You are napping much better in the afternoon as long as I am consistent to put you down around the same time. Now you might even sleep for 2 hours!

Your brother has made it his mission to make you laugh and you often cooperate. You are becoming a bundle of laughs and it is so sweet to see your cheerfulness shining through regularly.

We love you, dearly, little E!

PS: the rather ugly puppy outfit you are sporting in most of these pictures is the funny outfit your Mommy came home from the hospital in. Must have swallowed me alive! Just think; it was Japan in the 70s.