11 months already

Look at this girl- she is looking so much older to me lately- a whole whopping 11 months.  She is still petite- what is new- and weighs in at less than 17 lbs still.  I was thinking she'd get to the 3 times her birth weight thing by her first birthday but I don't know if that will happen.  So here is a photo recap of what has been happening around here lately and some comments to bring you up to date.

I know that I have a lot of pictures in this pose but it is one of my favorite places to take pictures of Aven because of the natural sunlight and the view outside.  My girl is an outside girl.  She has loved being outside from day 1.  Within the first week of her life she had already been on several walks outside with the doggies and that hasn't changed since.  She loved being in the Baby Bjorn and now the backpack or Daddy's bike trailer in the afternoon spring sunshine.

Aven has been crawling and pulling herself up since a few days after her 9 month marker.  She is a lot more proficient at pulling herself up and can easily let herself back down or hang on with one hand.  She can sometimes stand for a few seconds but she often will drop down and then crawl somewhere.  She can kind of walk while you hold her hands although she isn't too quick or steady.  She likes to pull herself up onto objects and just stand there talking to herself, holding toys or raising herself up and down on her tiptoes.

Aven likes to play with toys although she doesn't seem to have any favorites or preferences.  There are certainly things that she shows no interest in but for the most part she is not picky.  She doesn't seem to latch onto stuffed animals or even any particular blanket or toy.  She likes her little Baby Einstein ABC table that plays all kinds of fun songs when you press the different buttons.  She loves her Green Toys tool set (from Christmas) and likes the Flathead Screwdriver the saw and the hammer.  Lately she has been really enjoying music and kind of "shimmies" as Abe calls it.  It is super cute and so funny.  She seems to really enjoy books and being read to.  She will turn the page in her board books and often close the book for me (before I am done that stinker).  She likes to touch the pages especially when there are interesting patterns, textures and contrasts.

This girl is very independent.  She is so great at playing by herself for long periods of time.  Sometimes when I haven't heard her for awhile I am worried she has gotten into something and then I walk into her room or the dining room and she's sitting there looking at something or playing quietly with herself.  On the other hand, when she wants something- she is not afraid to show it.  It is funny- since she's been very little her patience has been short when it comes to something she wants.  She'll be perfectly happy and then within 5 minutes totally break down and be exhausted for bed.

She is also a very independent eater.  Over a month ago she pretty much stopped letting us feed her the baby purees I'd made.  Most things she doesn't want us to feed her (although she'll still let us feed her cereal or yogurt or cottage cheese).  Most everything else she wants to feed herself.  And she does a pretty good job of it too- it can just take awhile for a meal (try an hour sometimes if she's hungry).

I don't know if independent or opinionated is the best word but the other thing she's decided she doesn't like is brushing her teeth.  At first I thought it was because she was maybe teething or because I was pressing too hard on her gums but now it just seems to be part of her daily routine: crying when I brush her teeth.  The whole exercise takes about 3 times longer since I have to keep pinning her arms down while I try to pry her mouth open with one hand and then get the toothbrush in and actually clean something.  I have tried many tactics but so far none have worked; hopefully it is just a phase.

Aven is so cute.  Her personality is just coming out more and more and she is a fun baby.  She is a relatively happy baby most days and goes with the flow.  She sleeps well for naps (usually a longer one between 1 1/2 hours and 2hrs in the morning and about 1/2 hour in the afternoon).  And I am happy to say that she is pretty much sleeping through the night for the last several weeks.  She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and usually doesn't wake up to nurse until 5:30 or 6 in the morning and then will usually go back to bed for a bit longer (around 7 or 7:30).  The only thing I need to break her of is the swaddle blanket.  I can't believe I still use it at 11 months.  The last few nights I've used a large muslin blanket that sort of holds her tight but that can easily unwrap to try to get her used to not sleeping all night in the swaddle- we'll see how that works.

Back to cuteness- this is an important topic.  The girl loves her Daddy and doggies and friends.  She plays silly games by looking over one persons shoulder at someone standing behind.  She will giggle and laugh if we do funny things with her and she can let out a loud scream of glee if she's really happy about something.  For a few months she would point her finger at just about anything- especially people.  It was super funny but in the last few days it seems she is moving on to new things.  It is funny how something that your kid does can come and go so quickly and a year from now I probably won't even remember something she did for a month or a few weeks (sad, sigh).  But the delightful thing is that it is always replaced by something new and different so no need to really be sad because there is so much to look forward to and learn.

Other stuff: Aven and Abe just finished taking a 5 week parent/baby swimming class at the YMCA.  She did really well until the last week (luckily minutes before the end of class) she swallowed too much pool water and puked back into the kiddie pool whereupon the lifeguard yelled "everyone out of the pool."  Our girl has been fighting a variety of different ailments this past month.  First it was the 24 hour flu- then a bad cold with logs of boogers and crusty nights.  Then she has had a variety of digestive issues these past few days requiring lots of outfit changes and clean up.  I don't know if it was just too many new foods, a particular food that upset her or just a different issue.  She is a trooper though and does her best to stay happy all the while.

Birthday Celebration stuff: going to Portland to hang out with our families for Aven's 1 year b-day.  We'll go to the zoo and hang out with Aunts and Uncle, cousin(s), Grandmas and Grandpas.  Should be really fun and a weekend away from the business here.  Planning on doing family photos for her actual 1 year b-day here in Bellingham- any suggestions for affordable photographers?  Looks like the going rate is around $250 just for the shoot.  Lastly, any suggestions for the one year celebration?  Trying to decide if I want to do the traditional cake for the baby thing or not.

Well- so many little changes every day- hard to capture them and remember all of the subtleties.  Not a lot of big changes yet (no words or first steps) but so many delightful moments logged daily in photo or memory.  Our sweet little one is a treasure and we love watching her grow.