eleven months

Madison turned eleven months old yesterday. She is just a couple weeks away from being a one year old. I have already sent out invitations for a little outdoor party we will have for her to celebrate.

At Eleven Months:

* She is sleeping about ten hour stretches at night, but that means she is waking quite early. Sometimes she surprises us and goes back to sleep until 7am, but that is rare these days. 

* She is my house helper. She has fully taken note of what I do around the house. She closes all doors behind us when we leave a room, she puts things back into cabinets when she gets them out, she helps me put potting soil in the ground when I plant. It is amazing to see the things she attempts to do herself after watching me do them. 

* She eats pretty much the same amount of food as I do during the day. Well, maybe not the exact same amount, but at least the same items. She still only has two teeth but she can scarf down anything we give her.

* She has become very affectionate. Giving hugs to almost anyone and anything.  I will see her holding aspen's paw and kissing it. She squeezes all her baby dolls super tight. And gives us ample amounts of love, we are loving it. 

* Still no signs of walking. She is not a fan of trying to stand on her own and does not like us to help her walk either. She is still fiercely independent. 

* She hardly plays with her toys anymore. She mostly spends her days following me around and playing with whatever she can get into. 

It is still hard for me to believe a year has almost passed. I find myself remembering where I was a year ago. I had about four weeks left and I thought I would be pregnant forever. I look at pictures of from the past year and they all seem so recent, its hard to believe some of them were months ago. But at the same time, I have really grown to thoroughly enjoy being around her. I love being able to sit down and share a meal with her. I love being able to show her how to do things and watch her attempt them. I love to watch her explore and I can just sit and let her be. 

This time next month we will be watching her smash a cake all over her body and celebrate one year of parenthood. Crazy stuff.