Eleven Months!

Hallie began crawling last month and she learned to pull up this month, which means we need to seriously increase our baby-proofing measures. Dan had to dig two marbles out of her mouth, and I had to make her spit out a piece of already-chewed gum she found on the ground outside (gag!). She toppled and shattered a glass lamp in one of our bedrooms (thankfully, she didn't have a scratch on her!).  And electrical cords, book shelves, and small choking hazards are her favorite things to explore when we have our backs turned. It's been an adventure!

Since she's learned to crawl, she fights every single diaper change.  It's exhausting.  I sometimes have to call Dan for backup when she's got a dirty diaper so the stuff doesn't get flung everywhere during our wrestling match.  I remember Emma going through this phase, and I'm looking forward to Hallie getting past it!

She continues to be a good eater most of the time.  She prefers finger foods over pureed foods, but doesn't eat enough of the finger foods to fill her belly.  So I usually give her as much of the baby food as she'll tolerate, then top her off with finger foods.  Her favorite pureed foods are meats and yogurt, but she also eats fruits and vegetables well. She doesn't enjoy baby food grains like rice or oat cereal as much, but she makes up those carbs with her finger foods.  Her favorite finger foods are Cheerios, pizza (we give her the crust to chew on), and ice cream.  She's a girl after my own heart!

She's really started to communicate with us this month and it's the cutest thing!  She waves hello and goodbye (and sometimes says "bye bye"), signs "all done" and "more", and says "night night", "mama", "dada", "nana", "ma" (we think that's Emma's name), and "woof woof" (She seems to think all animals say "woof woof". We are working on this). She shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want something, and when we tell her "no", she waves her pointer finger left and right like she's saying "no, no" with us.  When she wants attention, she'll make a "blallallalla" sound by rolling her tongue over and over.  And when we sing "Old MacDonald had a farm..." she says "E-I-E-I-E-I." Heh!

As much as she's enjoying moving around, you'd think she'd be ready to practice walking. Nope. She absolutely hates it when we grab her hands and pull her into a standing position or make her take a few steps. I think she already has control issues. That's fine - I think it's God's way of saving our backs for another month.

She still goes to bed between 7:30-8:00 and sleeps until around 7:00 am. It's a dream come true! Recently, she hasn't fallen asleep in our arms, so we've put her in bed awake and she doesn't complain about it anymore. Another dream come true!

She's started to get separation anxiety, but it doesn't last too long after we leave her at the nursery or childcare.  Speaking of, Hallie just started with a new babysitter, Lauren, and it's going well so far.  My parents will continue to watch her one day a week, and Lauren will watch her the other two days that I'm at work. Lauren has two sons, ages 3 years old and 16 months old, and Hallie really enjoys watching and playing with the boys. They live about a mile from our house, which is such a blessing since I can drop her off right on my way to the interstate!  We asked God to provide a great babysitter in a good location for Hallie, and he did!

Here are some pictures of Hallie's 11th month.

Our fireplace hearth was the first place Hallie learned to pull up. She'd usually get stuck in a plank position and cry for someone to rescue her.

Then, one day she wanted to taste Emma's snack that was sitting on the coffee table, and she made it all the way up to a standing position!

Emma has learned to perch as high as she possibly can if she wants to play or eat in peace nowadays.

Hallie's goal is to leave a trail of destruction wherever she goes.  Her favorite game is called "Throw Everything Out of the Pantry". Or the diaper bag. Or the trash can. Etc. 

Until she falls asleep, and then she is the sweetest, most innocent thing you've ever seen. Also, she will thank the Lord for those long eyelashes someday.

When we reach the point of total exasperation, that scrunchy-nose smile melts us, and she knows it.  Her five teeth are really growing in now, and I think there's a sixth cutting through on the top now.

Grandma and Grandpa Jester came over to our house every Wednesday this month to babysit Hallie while my parents were out of town. They've had a great time together.  Grandma was swinging Hallie in her (very strong) grocery bag. Emma wanted to have a turn, too, but we didn't think it would survive a 4-year-old.

Hallie absolutely loves to play in water!  If she's ever really fussy, I know that some good splash time will cheer her up and help her sleep well.

The girls were both really whiney one day, so I took them outside to play with sidewalk chalk and bubbles.  It turns out that when you mix chalk with a wet, soapy sidewalk, you get wet, sticky, chalk-covered kids. Go figure.

So we threw them both in the tub, which turned out to the most fun time of the day. :)

Bath time makes this girl so happy!

We celebrated Hallie's birthday a week early since all our family and friends were available to come to her party that weekend.

We partied at Dan's parents' house and enjoyed their deck and pool in the beautiful warm weather.

We had pizza for lunch. Hallie's favorite!

Papa and Nana got to come, right before they left town for a couple of weeks.

Dan and I with the birthday girl

The kids enjoyed the pool, although the water was a little chilly that day.

So we jumped in the hot tub to warm up for a while.

We sang to Hallie over a brownie cake and ice cream.

And she had lots of helpers during present-opening time!

Now that Hallie can get to most things, it's her personal goal to be in the middle of whatever Emma is doing. As you can see, Emma takes it really well. Ha!

But they often really enjoy playing together

Sister hugs!

We absolutely adore our 11-month old!