11 months

""We finally got internet back.  I wrote this post a while back, but didn't have the pictures on it.  Now that I can post it with pictures, I will, but a lot of the updates have changed., since we are only 1 week away from her birthday! 

Mary Hyatt you are 11 months old!! In less than a month you will be 1 year old! That just blows my mind!

 Your little personality has really started to bloom this month.  You wave at EVERYONE.  It is the cutest thing.  We can be in the grocery store, in the mall, in target..anywhere, and you just wave your precious baby wave and grin at people.  We get lots of sweet comments from strangers about how friendly and cute you are. Makes my heart smile, and I hope you always stay that way. 

 You love to be outside.  When we get home in the evenings, the first thing I do is let the dogs out to go to the bathroom.  You will start crying every single day if I don't take you outside with the dogs for a few minutes.  

You are still a good eater and you love just about any vegetable. You love all kinds of peas and beans that you can pick up on your own.  You also like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, grilled cheese, and you love applesauce.  You still love your pancakes just like your daddy. I can't get you to eat any fruits.  I've tried bananas, mandarin oranges, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, grapes...pretty much, you name it, I've tried it and every single time you spit it out.  It really surprises me because you love the fruit pureed baby foods.  I'm hoping this changes as you get older, but at least I don't have to worry about you eating your greens at this point!  For snacks, you eat cheerios, gerber butter cookies, any kind of cracker, especially ritz crackers and goldfish.  You aren't a huge fan of puffs anymore now that you've started eating so much "real" food. You are still eating about 4-5 bottles a day but I know we are going to have to start weaning you from your bottle soon after your first birthday.  I'm not looking forward to that.  You do drink from a sippy cup now all the time and love to drink from a straw, but you prefer your milk in a bottle. 

The biggest change you've made this month is that you have started to stand independently! You get so proud of yourself when you do it.  You haven't started to take a step yet, but I bet that will happen very soon.  

Crawling is still your preferred method of movement.  You crack me and your daddy up because if you are in the grass, apparently you don't like the way it feels on your knees so you bear crawl up on all fours.

 It's pretty funny, but so smart!

 Love those blue eyes! 

 You absolutely love to cuddle. One night I laid down with you on the twin bed in your room while you were falling asleep.  You just nudged your little face into mine and then wrapped your arm around my neck, and you drifted off to sleep. I could have stayed there forever...if I didn't have to finish packing to prepare for our move. 

 You still love your baths.  I think it continues to be one of your most favorite times of day.  

 And you love going to the park.  You still grin and laugh every time we put you in the swing.  The last time we went to the park your daddy rode with you on the big swing. 

 You are still sleeping pretty good.  You sleep at least around 10 hours at night.  Occasionally you will wake up once and want a bottle, but usually you sleep through the entire night.  You wake up so happy and will play in your crib until one of us comes to get you.  We love to listen to you babble on the monitor in the morning while we get ready. 

 You are babbling a good bit, but you still don't say anything consistently. Sometimes I do think you say "baba" and "byebye" like you mean it.  You say "mama" and "dada" all the time but you don't necessarily say it in context, so I'm not sure that you really understand what you are saying. It will come. 

You are such a joy to us Mary Hyatt.  It is so hard for me to believe that it has almost been a year since you were born.  Your daddy and I can't imagine what life would be like without you, and we are so thankful God sent you to us.  We love you!