11 Months

Happy 11 Month-Birthday sweet girl! I took this last night while I was conducting a "gratuitous fashion show." (Jason's description) Since we'll be headed to the beach soon, I needed to know if those precious new bathing suits and cover-ups were going to fit! And, really, (dang it Jason) I just wanted to see her as a bathing beauty!

So, here we are at 11 whole months old... soon looms the big 1!!! Some things to remember: Farley

• is getting closer to walking every day. She loves to hang on and walk around, and has even made it a couple of steps just holding onto one hand. I'm guessing in a month or so, we may take those first independent steps. We shall see!
• is honing her dancing skills. Maybe I should say "skillz" instead! (As in, mad dancin' skillz.) I think she's going to take after her parents and be a dancin' fool. She will dance to anything with any hint of a beat and it is ridiculously hysterical. The best is when she's standing and holding onto something and gets going-- she will bust out the stanky leg. It is awesome on so many levels. The only crime is that Jason and I have yet to video it!
• has discovered that she can point at things. Farley has been pointing to pictures in books for a while now, but it's like she just discovered she can do it in real life, too.
• is the reigning champion of super peek a boo. We don't just cover our faces to play. We play it hard core! Like, around the side of the couch and I'll jump out and squeal "BOO!" and she thinks it is the most awesome thing in the history of America. I mean, she gets so hysterical that she has given herself leather burn on her face because she is laughing so hard she can't catch herself and slides down the side of the couch face first.
• has started holding her own bottle. I still can't bring myself to stick her in the high chair to give it to her, though. She reclines in my lap and I'm there to help if it starts to droop.
• knows the importance of accessorizing. Well, maybe that's not what it is, but she is learning about where things go, what they do, etc. If her shoes are sitting on the floor, she'll pick them up and pat them against her foot. She also loves to pull Jason's hat off his head and put it back on, and pull my sunglasses off and put them back on. Which, if you're wondering, is not safe. I may lose an eyeball before this is all over with.
• is the best hugger! I love picking Farley up because she loves to give love. Sometimes it's like holding a little monkey because she'll wrap those arms around your neck or shoulders and just hang on. Other times, she'll pat you on the back while she's hugging. Arggh- Love. It.
• loves books. Thanks to some very generous friends, we have enough board books for a small library... and Farley loves it! She'll get all of her books out at once and strow them all over the floor (by the way, have I mentioned how tidy our house is all the time now? No? Hmmm. Wonder why?) and just flip the pages. I sure hope she continues her love for books (says the extremely nerdy book worm adolescent that still lives somewhere inside me).
• is busy. Busy. BUSY. I mean, I have never seen one human do so much stuff all the time. I know I'm going to be flabbergasted when she's a little older and runs everywhere, but let me be amazed by this, too. Farley is constantly doing something. She will stand by a table and pick up something from the floor and put it on the table, knock it back down to the floor, squat and pick it back up, throw it back on the floor, up, down, up, down. Get down and crawl to a toy and pick it up. Sit it down. Pick it up. Throw it behind her. See anther toy across the room. Crawl rapidly towards that toy. Get distracted by the cat. Chase the cat. Catch the cat. Not know what to do, so yell at the cat until he runs in fear. Crawl again to chase the cat. See the toy that was original goal. Crawl towards it. Pass furniture on the way. Pull up on the furniture. Chew on the furniture. AND SO ON!!! I mean it. Busy. Always doing something. Endlessly entertaining.
• gets more "toddler-ish" everyday. I keep seeing these baby things slipping away to the little kiddo she will be (sooner than I'd like). She eats finger foods a bunch now, and has just about decided she doesn't like baby food. She moves up to the Infant 4 class at school in a couple of weeks and she'll do table food (!) mostly and will get on the schedule of only one nap a day. That will be fine with her-- she's been fighting her two-nap schedule for a few weeks now, and it took me almost an hour last weekend to get her down for her morning nap!
• is learning how to exert her own will. It is funny to see her begin to develop opinions and preferences as her personality starts showing. While I see a lot of sweetness and affection in her, I have started to see glimpses of a willful little spirit in her, too! The other day she actually had a full-out tantrum (for an 11-month old) in her high chair when I took her food away. She was putting food in her mouth faster than she was chewing and swallowing, so I scooted it out of reach until she could finish what was in her mouth and take a sip of water. Well, she started crying (the "please take a breath now" kind where they get all red) and pulling her hair... big huge tears running down her cheeks. I made her finish that mouthful and slid the food back to her and *bing* she stopped. Like a light switch. And started smiling. And, yes, I know I shouldn't have laughed. But I did. She's good.

Well, this post has gone on way too long so I'll end it there. Plus, I know, blogs are supposed to be like kid's books: a lot of pictures and not so many words, so I'll try to get some posted soon!