Cara is 11 months old!

My, oh my, what a big girl we have! This month has been the biggest month so far of leaps and bounds, and I feel like it's also been the month when she has seemed like a little girl and not a baby anymore. She's doing things that are more "grown up" and acting more like a toddler. And she's only going to take off more from here! I decided to do bullet points for all the topics this month since I'm behind on time.

Stats:
We go for our one-year (!!!!) check-up on 9/18, but I'm guessing Cara is about 22 lbs and maybe 29-30 inches long. She's gotten tall lately!

Milestones:
verbal: 

• Cara can say lots of "words"--mama, dada, bah bah (bye bye), dough (dog), na-na (night night), no, oh and lots of other mimicking sounds.
• blows raspberries on command if she sees mommy or daddy do it first, blows air through her lips
• understands tons of words and commands--"Where is your bear/dog/door/book/etc.", "Go get the _____," get up, no no, sit down, lay your head down, go night night, walk, clap, where is Cara, peekaboo, hi and bye bye. It's almost scary how much she understands but has yet to verbalize!
• doesn't point, but thrusts her whole arm out, sticking it up by her ear. She does this when she sees something she wants, so it seems like it's a pre-cursor to pointing. It's definitely communication.

gross motor:

• cruising everywhere-couch to ottoman, raised fireplace, big chairs 
• stands for about 1 second before plopping down
• walks with the walker
• pivots while holding onto the walker while I turn it
• pulling up on everything-her crib, legs, toys, stable and unstable things

fine motor:

• great pincer grasp for all kinds of food and textures and for toys
• pinches me while she eats--tries to get my nose, hair, ears, neck
• grabs hair-mine or Po's and tries to eat it--yuck!
• drinks from a starter cup and loves water 

personality:

• plays peekaboo when you ask "Where's Cara?"
• looks for things you hide
• definite stranger anxiety-at church or when you drop her off somewhere she gets clingy and cries until you leave
• always looks for approval to us when she's doing something new or fun
• has lots of tricks-How big is Cara? So big!, Where's Cara? Peekaboo!, saying hi and bye, blowing kisses (but she gets stuck on the pushing the kiss away part), shakes her head no, clapping 

Behavior:

• way more balanced in communication--still very happy, but also fussy/frustrated. She lets you know when she wants something, even if she can't tell you what it is.
• has a new fussy face and cry that's pretty adamant
• into EVERYTHING she can get her hands on--anything left within reach isn't safe. We've had several spills and messes because she's grabbed a drink or something and pulled it off. She crawls all over the house and explores every nook. We had to take the DVDs off the shelves because she was pulling them off all the time.
• She loves Po and M&D's dog Harleigh. Po doesn't love Cara, and Harleigh is excited but hesitant about her. Cara is destined to be friends with these animals, though.
• content to play by herself with a variety of toys, but prefers to play on the floor with mommy or daddy
• loves to watch Fisher Price apps on the iPhone--ABCs, zoo, counting, etc. Whenever the V for Violin comes on and plays the classical music, she claps. Every time. So cute!

Sleep:

• sleeps from 8-8 if we don't have school, or 7:30-7 if we do
• morning nap from 10-12/12:30, afternoon nap from 3-4:30/5
• sometimes drops a nap if she sleeps late in the morning enough, but we have to really stimulate her in the evening until it's early bedtime. I MUCH prefer a two-nap day!
• Cara has started having trouble going down and directly to sleep like she used to do. Now she needs to be rocked, patted, shushed for a little bit before she calms down. Sometimes she'll play in her crib and then lay down to sleep, other times she stands up and cries in her crib until we go back in and calm her down. This happens at nighttime and at naptime, so maybe she's just adjusting to a new pattern for sleep? She definitely is sleeping longer at night, so I'm proud of her for that. It will just be sad when I go back to work and 7 p.m. becomes her bedtime. Less time in the evenings to spend together. :(

 Clothes:

• still in 9-12, and some of her 6-9 things still fit. Her torso is about the same length, but her legs are longer.
• She's been living in onesies, bubbles, snap-and-go creepers and swimsuits all summer! Too hot for anything else.

Food:

• nurses morning and night, but I have a feeling we're going to give that up soon. She doesn't seem as interested, it doesn't calm her down to sleep at night, she's full from the rest of her food, and she's really physical when she eats--pulling my hair, pinching me, kicking, wresting her head and back. I think she's telling me she's done with that. We'll see how many more weeks I can convince her to stick it out. :) If she directs me to stop before she's 12 months, I'll be OK with that.
• formula bottles (6 oz) at 12:30 and 5. We exhausted the last of the frozen milk supply in mid-July, so we switched back to formula. She really likes it and drains her bottles in less than 5 minutes each time. And the convenience is pretty great, so I'm glad for increasing flexibility as she gets older.
• table food! We've been feeding Cara everything under the sun lately. Her tastes are varied, she's not picky about too many things, and she's really good at feeding herself.
• She's had pasta/sauce, roast beef, brisket, chicken (LOVES chicken!), ground beef, Ritz crackers, diced up anything fruit or vegetable, turkey lunch meat, cheese, yogurt, macaroni, toast, waffles, potatoes, bread.
• Fruits and veggies: peaches, mangoes, banana, strawberries, papaya, mandarin oranges, avocado, blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, cantaloupe, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, yellow squash, carrots, potatoes. I'm probably forgetting some.
• favorites are all the orange foods: LOVES butternut squash and sweet potatoes, likes mangoes, peaches, oranges and cantaloupe. Go figure.
• no processed sugar-I'm holding out for birthday cake! But it's so freeing to let her eat what we do, and I'm excited to let her keep trying more and more foods.

 Likes:

• watching Fisher Price apps with Daddy in his chair
• having her thighs tickled
• shaking her Wiggly Giggler toy
• chasing Po
• rolling or being tossed in the air
• playing with friends and cousins
• EATING!! All the time
• reading stories

 Dislikes:

• riding in the carseat for too long--she's stopped taking long naps on road trips
• diaper rash (that tummy bug at Mom & Dad's didn't help her temperament when it was time for a new diaper)
• being hungry, and she'll let you know if she is!
• being alone--she's still a social butterfly at heart and would prefer to play with us or others

Favorite moments:

• watching Cara become a little girl and move on from being a baby
• being reunited after our Vegas vacation
• helping her take steps and learn balance
• spending some of our summer days running errands and playing together
• getting her to giggle and laugh--this will always be one of my very favorite things!

Most challenging:

• keeping her entertained with her increasing developmental bursts--I'm working on some new homemade toys to keep her busy
• being apart from her from Sunday morning-Wednesday night. That was the longest we'd gone apart, and it was hard at the end especially
• trying to figure out the whole weaning/formula method
• figuring out a new schedule if Cara drops a nap and trying to envision what our new schedule will be like when she does transition
• coming to an end of the summer and thinking about school starting up again

Looking forward to:

• Cara's first birthday!!!!!!! In just a little over 3 weeks, we will have a 1-year-old
• party planning plus school starting back--stressful but strangely exciting at the same time
• getting my new room set up and decorated and prepared for a new crop of kids
• enjoying 2 more weeks of time together!

What a lovely 11 months it's been! Get ready for a giant birthday post next month!