11 months.

And so the countdown begins.

Abigail turned 11 months old yesterday. I'm really not sure when this happened. I mean, I know it happened sometime between 12/12/08 and 11/12/09 - but I missed it. And so now we begin the countdown to toddlerhood. I - like every other mother in the history of the world - have a lot of emotions about the big first birthday. Some are sad, nostalgic, and anxious - but mostly I'm happy and, the unexpected emotion - proud.

I'm so proud of her.

But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still have a month left with my "baby". Heh - not that she's really that much of a baby anymore. On to the updates - this will probably be long. :)

At 11 months, Abby has so much personality. She has moods and likes and dislikes that are communicated very well. More than ever, she wants to play, she wants to be with you, she wants attention and love.

She says ma-ma and da-da. She says "ba-ba" for bye, but also says "a-ba-ba" when she sees her reflection. Which we feel is her trying to mimic us saying "ab-ab" She waves hi and bye and will give you a kiss if you ask for it (and sometimes even if you don't). She as a sign for "all done" and communicates in so many other ways that don't use words. She points to things and "asks" with a question voice what they are. She reaches for you and hands you things she wants (books to read, puppets to sing with..)

She doesn't watch much TV, but will occasionally watch a recorded cartoon. When she does - she claps when they say clap, she waves when they wave, she flaps her arms when they say to do that - and, the part that impresses me the most - she laughs at the funny parts. Like, the cartoon will make a joke or do something silly and she'll laugh, and then look at me to see if I'm laughing too. So smart. :)

She is a super fast crawler now and has no fear of the stairs (gates are up). She has no fear of falling at all. She is extremely afraid of the vacuum and the hairdryer still. And the nose sucker thing is evil incarnate. Tangent: Abby has had her first runny nose the last week and I had to use the nose sucker thing for the first time. You would have thought I was severing her limbs with a spoon the way she screamed at me...but, when we were done - she had nobody else to turn to for comfort but me. :) It was pretty funny. She was so mad at me, but wanted to cling to me and put her head on my shoulder and cry it out. I secretly loved that part.

Teeth. Her teeth are exploding. Well, not literally, that would be scary. But in the past week, she's had at least 3 new teeth come though and another on the way. She's now up to 7 or 8 chompers! Understandably so, these have caused her some distress. The runny nose and obvious mouth pain are all there. It's the first time she's shown any teething symptoms, and she's doing great with them. I can't wait for her to feel better though.

Abby loves bathtime. She loves when Tortuga the Toucan sings to her after her naps. She loves, loves, LOVES being chased (and subsequently caught, tossed, and tickled). She loves her reflection. She loves her books - especially Brown Bear and the Word Book. She loves music, especially Billy Joel, Coldplay, Sinatra, and Indigo girls. ;-) She cannot stand for the dish towels to be hung on anything and must tear them down immediately - and then play peek-a-boo with them. She cannot stand for blocks to be stacked, organized, or contained within a single bin. She must destroy, scatter, and throw them. She hates wearing her bib - and - I don't make her most of the time. Choose your battles people. More than anything though - she loves her daddy. LOVES. He can do no wrong.

Food. She is off purred foods now, we still feed her yogurt and applesauce and such - but she much prefers to feed herself. She likes tuna, peas, cheese, any fruit, apple juice, ....well, there really isn't much she doesn't like. Which is nice.

She still sleeps well and is still taking 2 naps a day - usually for 90 mins to 2.5 hours for each one. Sometimes less, rarely more. We read at night and she is starting to sit back and listen more. She doesn't worry about turning the pages and throwing the book when we read at night - she seems to enjoy the time. She still wakes up smiling every morning.

Most importantly - she is so much fun and I am having more fun than ever (I KNOW - I say that every time, but it's always true!). I cannot believe we're here already - 1 month to go before the big 1st birthday. wow.

Abby- I love you more than you will ever be able to comprehend. I'm so proud of you and am loving every second we spend together. You are the light of my everyday. Love you!

Here are some pictures - it's much, much, MUCH harder to get good pictures these days. Something about a moving target and all that...

still looks like daddy

teething? what gave you that idea? I eat wood blocks all the time...

reading Brown Bear

no so babyish anymore, huh?

my abbykat