ava---11 months

this is ava clapping 

 ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.  my baby is almost a year old!  i keep saying that every month, but wow.  this year just really flew by.  and she is so amazing.  she is both sweet and fiery.  loving and cuddly.  sometimes thrashy and tantrumy.  she learns new skills practically every day.  i can't believe it.  lately, she has been so mischievous.  she gets into everything.  she puts everything in her mouth.  she climbs!  she is so damn persistent.  and if i try to take something from her, or wipe her nose, or do something that she doesn't like, she bats my hand away, waving her arm to and fro like she is trying to swat a fly.  and she reprimands me.  she says, "ah bah bah!"  all wrinkled forehead and blazing eyes.  it makes me laugh.  cause she's so little.  and so fierce.

kisses

so, she climbs up anything she can.  she is getting very good at walking with assistance.  she can stand by herself for a few seconds at a time.  she can play peek-a-boo.  she knows who people are and will look towards them, like "where's mama" and she will look at me.  she waves (not the normal way though, she waves with her hand flipped so that her palm is facing inward and then she waves her arm up and down, like she is chopping the air).  she is getting really good at imitating sounds that we make (especially Z), and things that we do.  for example, i taught her to take a cloth and rub it on her cheek and say "soft", so now she will pick up a cloth and rub it on her cheek, and then rub it on my cheek.  she dances.  when she eats she says, "num num num mmmm num mmm".  she won't sit still to change her diaper or clothes.  when she is upset, she throws herself back and kicks her legs up and slams them down on the ground.  she is very willful.  maybe even more so than her brother.  she has a short temper.  and is sensitive, she will start to shriek if Z gets too close to her or if she gets bumped or something.

this is how she waves

she has really grown this last month, both in length and developmentally.  her fine motor skills are getting better, she can pick up really small items with her finger and thumb.  her gross motor skills are really good.  i showed her maybe two times how to come down the stairs backwards and it seems like she has it down already.  also, when she started climbing up the stairs, she just did it.  there was no time where she tried it and couldn't do it.  and then all of a sudden she was able to climb up on stuff, like the dishwasher, the step stool, a toy box, whatever.  she can pull herself up onto things like she is mountain climbing.  it's amazing to watch.  she also babbles a LOT.  all kinds of different noises.  no distinct words yet.  she seems to understand quite a bit of what we are saying.

-feeding: still breastfeeding, about 5 times a day or so, and she eats all the food.  she is a great eater.  she loves to feed herself.

-growth: she seems like she grew taller.  she has two teeth on the bottom and her top two teeth are going to cut through soon.  she is slender and petite.  her hair is growing and the back is starting to curl a little at the ends.

this is her favorite thing to do now

-development: walks really well with assistance, crawls fast, babbles all the time, likes to pull stuff out and throw it on the ground, she gets into everything all over the house, she is an excellent climber, mimics our sounds and starting to mimic our actions

-sleep: still pretty good, takes 2 naps per day, her night sleep has been interrupted since being out of town and teething, but she is sleeping in her crib and is easy to get down for bedtime

-temperement: she has the best temperament, she has a winning temperament (hahaha).  for real though she is very persistent, willful, most of the time happy, very loving and playful, silly, sometimes sensitive

-likes: cuddling with mama, playing with baba (she gets sooooooo excited when he comes home from work), playing with big brother, actually she wants to do what he is doing, so when we drop Z off at school she wants to stay and play with all the stuff, she loves animals and babies, she is quite the explorer and seems to have no fear (unless she gets hurt), she enjoys feeding herself and will try to share her food with us, she loves giving us kisses and hugs, i actually think she likes to sleep, she is not really into a particular toy, but seems to graze her way through all of them that we have out in the living room, throwing them across the floor and chewing on them all equally

-dislikes: being cold, getting her face wiped, getting dressed and diaper changes, she doesn't seem to like sitting down in the bath anymore, being bull-dozed by her brother, being alone for a split second, she does not want to be set down if we are holding her

this is how she carries things when she is on the go

i really love this stage that she is in.  so much personality.  so many cuddles and big wet smooches.  she is like this compact fiery little bundle.  we loves her.