Edith: Eleven Months Old

Dear Edie,

You are eleven months old! There are many words I could use to describe you right now: independent, feisty, spunky, snugly, silly, curious, fearless, beautiful. I'm so thankful for you and just in awe of you every day as I watch you interact with your environment. You are growing and developing so fast that it amazes me.

You are on the move. You're starting to crawl on all fours instead of army crawl, and you pull up everywhere. You are cruising along furniture and trying to get into corners and under chairs. You will walk with us while we hold your fingers when you want to. If we try to get you to walk and you're not in the mood then you keep your feet lifted in the air!

You are eating all table food - and you want to do it yourself. No spoon feeding or helping is allowed by you! You have finally figured out the sippy cup, and you love banging it on the table! You still tend to drop food off your high chair when you're not hungry. You LOVE to eat, and if you're fussy I can usually just hand you a slice of bread or handful of cheerios and you're happy again. You like the squirt pouches of babyfood sometimes, but they are more of a toy than food for you. We're still breastfeeding several times a day and I don't have a plan for weaning yet. You don't nurse for a long time but it's still a comfort (for both of us!). You only have three teeth (two on bottom - one on top) but I can tell you have more coming soon.

Oh my goodness... you are so curious. As I'm typing this you are currently taking the covers off of the outlets and you have knocked the cd player in the playroom onto the floor. You love to make messes. If I want to keep you busy I will just put all of your toys in a basket and you will spend the next little bit taking them all back out again. You love baby dolls and your Little People. You also love books and trying to turn the TV on and off. The other day I was upstairs getting ready for church and I heard the volume on the TV go up. I came downstairs and you were standing behind the coffee table, remote in hand, turning the volume all the way up. You are so smart!

Your personality is shaping up to be quite silly. You just figured out how to clap and dance! Just like your daddy, you will do a little dance when you like your food! You love to make your brother laugh, and you guys are still best buds. He gets mad at you sometimes because you can be a straight up pest. You're always messing with his glasses and sometimes you pull his hair. You take it very personally if I tell you no, and you can throw a tantrum if you get in trouble. I am already dreading your teenage years because you are SO DRAMATIC!

Often when you're getting in trouble, you make your brother sad too. He has always been sensitive to kids getting in trouble, and he will cry faster than you when you get caught!

You're sleeping through the night and you take 2-3 naps. You go to bed around 7pm and wake up around 6:30. This all goes out the window if we are not at home - you refuse to nap in a pack and play or in someone else's arms when we're away! You're going to school on Wednesdays from 8-3. This month you went on your first daddy/daughter dates to visit your Uncle Evan at Starbucks and to watch fireworks on July 4th. We've spent a lot of time in the water this summer and you like the pool as long as you are touching one of your parents!

You are wearing 12 month clothes and your hair is finally long enough to clip bows in. You are starting to wear shoes more (size 1 and 2) but you like to take them off in the car. You are 28 inches long and 17 lbs, 11 ounces!

Edie girl- you are so many things to us. Edie Bat, Edie the Adventurer, Edie P, Diva Princess. You're our precious gift and our life would be less colorful and joyful without you. You are God's grace to us!

Love you,
Mama