Eleven Months!

Rachel -- you are now
ELEVEN MONTHS OLD!!!
In a month you will be one. How can that be???

Unfortunately I don't know how much you weigh or how tall you are because we moved to Ontario and I haven't been able to weigh you yet. Plus, the weight I get will be a base weight because it will be a different scale. Anyways, your legs are chubby and you eat well so I am hopeful you are gaining weight well. (EDITED TO ADD: As of May 22, 2012 you are 17 pounds, 5 1/2 ounces!) You are in size two diapers but I think we need to move you to size 3 soon because sometimes your diapers are pretty wet! And you are wearing some 6-12 and mostly 12 month clothes. You are still in size 12 month sleepers. A lot of your clothes are 12 months now because it is so summer-like here in Kitchener-Waterloo and you don't have a lot of 6-12 month summer clothes!

You are sleeping through the night most nights, usually from 9 until 7, but then once in awhile you have a night like last night where you are up every hour and a half or so. I don't like those nights Miss Rachel! You have started sleeping in a crib in your own room since we moved into our new house at the beginning of May and I think that has helped you sleep better. You now go down for night and naps with a bottle of milk which is also a big change.

You mostly take one catnap and one longer nap during the day. We are often on the go in the mornings so sometimes you fall asleep in your carseat. But the past few days you haven't napped very well so I don't know what is going on. sigh.

You now have eight teeth -- four on the top and four on the bottom. People seem surprised by how toothy your smile is. It makes me laugh :)

For breakfast you still eat a banana with plain yogurt. For lunch you usually eat avocado and cottage cheese. For supper we just feed you what we're eating. You are a big eater Miss Rachel. Lately you have been eating more than your brother Sam. Yesterday at care group you ate an entire sausage piece. Craziness!

You aren't nursing as often because there is too much to do. You still like a quick nurse for comfort but I think you are maybe nursing three or four times a day. You still like to nurse at night if you wake up though!

You are a talker but still don't have a lot of clear words. You were definitely saying "opa" when he was here and I think you were saying "Tanya" ("ya-ya" emphatically looking at Auntie Tanya) one night. I also think you've said "mama" ("um-ma" a few times) but you still don't say much of anything consistently. You love showing off all of your tricks especially clapping and putting your hands on your head for "oh my goodness!" You also like playing peek-a-boo by putting your hands over your eyes.

The biggest change this month is you are an on-the-go-Rachel. Yes, you are crawling! It's your own unique style but you definitely get where you want to go, and sometimes where we don't want you to go :) You also like to walk holding onto someone's hands. You are starting to pull yourself up on things but only to your knees. And a few times you have moved along the side of a table or on the futon in the living room. It is only a matter of time before you start walking Miss Rachel and I don't think I'm ready for that yet!

You are getting so big Rachel. A couple of times this past week you were playing in your room and you closed the door on me and barricaded yourself in. I got glimpses of when you are a teenager and it kind of scared me! Also you and Sam have been playing so well together lately. He can ALWAYS make you laugh and you love to play in his room with him.

I can't believe you are almost a year Rachel. You have changed so much this month and I just want you to slow down a little bit. We love you Rachel and can't wait to see what you are like at one year old!