Madeline is 11 Months Old!

Our sweet girl is 11 months old, and boy, is she taking the world by storm with her happy little self! Madeline pulls up on everything, cruises from place to place while holding onto something, and "crab crawls" all around the house. She is BUSY -- as you can tell from this month's photo shoot! She's all over the place. However, she has yet to take those first steps all by herself. She has gotten more daring and will let go of whatever she has her hands on to stand by herself, and her balance is pretty good. Recently, she has started to let go of whatever it is that she's holding onto and will clap as if to say, "Look at me!!" She is super curious to know everything about everything. She loves being outside, the stairs, opening and closing cabinet doors, pulling the Tupperware out of the bin, and pulling all her books out of the basket. While Madeline is a busy bee, she is very content to sit on the floor and play. She still likes her "quiet alone time" (just like her Mama who used to escape to the playroom and play Barbies for hours on end). She loves music and has quite a little set of dance moves when the mood strikes her. The ladies at the gym still adore Madeline to pieces, and they have started to sing, "Shake your booty. Shake your booty." to Madeline. Miss Dance Machine really turns on the dance moves! Not exactly what I want Madeline repeating, but her "booty dance" is pretty hilarious.

Madeline doesn't say any distinguishable words besides Dada & Mama, but she doesn't yet call us those words. She most definitely knows we are important to her, but she's not ever directly addressed us using Dada or Mama. However, she talks constantly, and when she is "reading" one of her books, she definitely has a story to tell as she flips through the pages. Her Daddy coming home from work is still a highlight of her day. There is nothing cuter than Eric walking through that door, and Madeline screeching and clapping with delight at the sight of her Daddy. It's loud but cute.

Madeline continues to be a great eater, but she flat out resists being spoon fed. Period. No more oatmeal, baby food, or even one of us feeding her finger foods. She's Miss Independent at mealtime. I'll tackle self feeding with a spoon at the end of the summer when we're not traveling so much. (I want to get all of our deposits back.) Her current favorites are Cheerios, goldfish, Nilla wafers, hot dogs, anything with cheese, mac-n-cheese, waffles, green beans, grapes, and peas. She recently tasted a dill pickle, and she seemed to really like it. We thought for sure she'd crinkle her nose up and give us a good funny face with a pickle bite.

Naps are always going to be a challenge when it comes to Madeline because she LOVES to play in her bed even though she's exhausted and has nothing to play with. I have actually watched her collapse in exhaustion only to watch her pull herself back up in a last ditch effort to stay awake. I attribute this to her great imagination and her ability to be content to play alone. :) However, sleep always wins out. So, she continues to take a morning and afternoon nap each day with the length varying by the day. There are times that she doesn't take a morning nap if I have things to do, but it proves to make our afternoons a bit rocky as she gets overly tired. I don't think she is 100% ready to drop the morning nap yet based on the times that I've skipped it. Although, I am ready for her to drop it, so we can have our entire morning free all the time. Her bedtime is typically between 6:30-7:30 PM depending on what we are doing and her mood.

Her little personality is still so sweet natured, happy, and outgoing. She loves people, especially other children, and animals. Madeline will blow kisses at any given moment, wave hello/bye-bye, and LOVES it when strangers talk to her. She just squeals with delight in response to their comments. With summertime brings BBQs and gatherings with friends, so we've just packed her up and taken her with us. Madeline has definitely proved that she can hang at a party & go to bed in her pack-n-play just as if she were at our home. The more we've done it, the better she seems with it, so we are pleased that she can be a go with the flow kind of gal. I know I appreciate her laid back quality when we're toting her here and there. However, she certainly can have an attitude when she's not allowed to touch something, something is taken from her, or if she's overly tired. These little tantrums are few and far between, but she can throw one with the best of them. Over the top drama seems to take over her little 20 lb. body during these tantrums. Perhaps this is foreshadowing to those teenager years! :) Madeline has quickly learned what not to touch around the house...now she will look over at me if she thinks she is not allowed to touch something before she touches. Now I usually just have to use my "teacher voice" and say "No ma'am.", and she stops.

Madeline Grace, your Daddy and I are thankful each and everyday that we've been chosen to be your parents. We cherish you and try to remember all of your moments as they seem to go by far too quickly. We love you to pieces, and while we don't like to wish time away, we look forward to each and every new day with you. You fill our days with happiness with your silly dances, your sweet smile, and your big kisses.