ellie's 11 month pictures

I know, I know...I'm behind in posting these.  We all know there's nothing new about that.  But this time makes me feel a little extra like a slacker, because...Ellie turns one next week.  Thursday, to be exact.  And here I am, just barely posting her 11 month pictures.

It's no secret that kids growing up brings a lot of mixed emotions for parents, and I'm no different.  There certainly is a part of me that wants to slow down time and savor every step, every smile, every slobbery kiss to the nose.  But there's another part of me that is just absolutely loving watching her achieve each and every milestone.  She just gets more and more fun every day.  Every age she reaches is my new favorite.

She stopped what she was doing and posed for this picture.  I swear she did.

This month brought a few hard days for Ellie.  It involved her first fever, and a few days of feeling absolutely miserable and barely eating any solid food.  Ellie is already petite enough, and I worry every day that she's not getting enough calories in her.  I think she lost some weight those days.  When took her to the doctor [as paranoid first-time parents are prone to do], she weighed 15lbs, 9oz, but she still had a few more days of sickness to go.  And then there was the 24 hour period she couldn't nurse because I had just gotten a HIDA scan.  Talk about drama!  Poor thing.  That day she spent most of her time swatting away any time we tried to feed her and arching her back when I would try to hold her.  Now, according to our bathroom scale, she is closer to 14lbs.  I hope it's wrong, I really do.  But regardless, these days I offer her food pretty much 24/7 in a very dedicated effort to make sure she's not hungry...like, ever.  She doesn't get very enthusiastic about any of it, and sometimes I wonder if the girl is even my daughter!

And I don't know that turned into an entire paragraph, but there you go.

Within the past week or so, Ellie has become quite the little proficient walker.  She's been taking steps for over a month now, but just recently has it switched from takes-a-few-steps-and-falls to barely-falls-at-all.  She looks a little like Frankenstein, with arms outstretched to keep her balance.  [Or was Frankenstein the doctor?  I never know.]  With each step, her grin gets a little wider and her eyes gleam with excitement.  She also repeats monosyllables over and over with increased volume.

oh oh oh oh Oh Oh Oh Oh OH OH OH OH OH!

Excitement has never been more obvious.

She is still our little dancing diva, and she has an obvious love for all things music.  I hope that never changes!

HA!  This picture just cracks me up.

More and more often, I see understanding dawn in her eyes and I just know that she is picking up on so much more than she can express.  She has two little phrases she likes to repeat at the appropriate times: "Want mama!" and "Hi, dad!"  Her new favorite game is sitting in my lap while I show her my eyes, and then show her her eyes, and then go through every facial feature like that.

Hahaha!  The funny thing about this picture is that she wasn't even angry - just telling me something very seriously!

After months of a colicky baby, I am always pleasantly surprised - all day, every day - at how truly sweet my daughter is becoming.  One day, I was feeling particularly down and a few tears trickled down my cheeks.  She looked up at me, very concerned, gave me a hug and then a big, slobbery kiss!  It's hard to feel down after that, let me tell you.  And that's just one example.  She loves giving us unsolicited hugs and kisses and trying to share her food with us and smiling almost constantly.  My heart is a constant puddle.

Other than the two times I mentioned above when she wasn't feeling well, her sleeping has drastically improved!  The last few days, she has gone to sleep about 10pm, woken up around 7am to eat, and gone back to sleep until around 10am.  And she's even getting better at taking naps in her own crib!

Does it make me a bad mom that I let her carry around the Orajel tube for a few minutes?  I promise she couldn't get into it. :)

Ellie loves - and I mean loves - her stuffed animals this month!  I honestly think one teddy bear in particular is responsible, at least in part, for her better sleeping.  She cuddles with him almost all night long!  And she carries various stuffed animals with her most of the day.  And sometimes her socks.  She loves to carry her socks.

Oh, and just one more for good measure:

It gets cold on our walks, okay? :)

Ellie girl, I can't believe you turn one next week.  We are absolutely in love with the little girl you are becoming!  You truly make every day better.  Thank you for coming into our family.  We are forever grateful for you.  Love you, baby girl.