My big girl.
Nora has been up to lots this month! She spent her first extended weekend with Mimi and Pops at the beginning of July while we went to San Francisco. She has been communicating lots, exploring all over the house, and eating pretty well, too. Since her ten month birthday...
How long do I have to sit here?
waves on occasion Nora has gotten a lot better with her waving. Whenever we say bye-bye she starts waving furiously. Of course, not to a stranger, but oh well. It's funny when you aren't intentionally trying to get her to do it and she picks up on the words she knows and waves anyways. She also starts waving when I say "Let's go," for some reason, and usually when we are getting ready to leave the house. Super cute!
smiles, squeals, giggles, and talks Of course there is still tons of this! Nora is using lots more sounds in her "talking" and will sometimes repeat sounds that she knows if you ask her. She giggles and plays with Ford sometimes, just on her own, and she likes being tickled on her feet and in her ribs.
I love getting a good picture of a happy face!
shy around strangers We're still acting quite shy around strangers as far as social interactions go, but I did leave her in the nursery at church for the first time this week and she did really well! When the helper was ready to take her, Nora reached out and went with her without a problem. AND it was right before nap time, so that is even more impressive!
prefers to be held, especially by mommy You sure know when Nora wants you to hold her. She will crawl after you, whining (if not crying), and then grip your legs and look at you with her big blue eyes, still whining. We are working on using the sign for "up" so that she doesn't have to get so upset about it. We'll see how long it takes for it to sink in. She definitely watches us do it, she just hasn't tried it herself yet.
explores the house Oh my gosh. She is everywhere. She wants to get into the dog bowl. She wants to pull everything out of the laundry basket whether it's clean or dirty. She wants to take every DVD off the shelf. She is everywhere.
snuggles before sleeping This is still something that I look forward to before every nap and bed time. She's our super sweet, snuggly baby. If only she didn't get so upset when I have to put her down in her crib!
stands with support, climbs, and creeps I can tell that Nora is wanting to start walking but hasn't quite figured out that she could try if she let go of something. For now, she still enjoys moving from one piece of furniture to another. She is stretching her limits a little more, trying to go further and further away from the furniture she is holding on to. I find myself almost wishing that she were walking (I know, terrible!) because she is on her feet so much of the day and into everything anyway. If she were more stable, I would feel a little less nervous with her on our slate tile and not creeping around the corners of furniture and such. We'll see what will happen in the next few months!
stands alone on occasion (accidentally) She is definitely getting more comfortable with standing. I can stand her up and she will stay there until she wants to start moving and sits down and goes. I find her standing on her own more and more.
eats lots of different finger foods Nora definitely prefers to feed herself. It's great and all, but she has all the control. She controls how much food she eats, how much food Ford eats, and what she actually puts in her mouth. She is pretty vocal about what she wants and what she doesn't want. She signs "more" ALL the time, even when she is not eating. I think she thinks it means "gimme that" instead. She will sign "all done" but not usually on her own. If you ask her, she will sign it. She also knows the sign "eat". She correlates it with "hungry" as well. If we ask her if she is hungry or she wants to eat, she puts her pointer finger in her mouth. She's a smart little thing if I do say so myself!
drinks 4 bottles a day This will be our last month on formula! We have been SO fortunate to get formula through Nestle (thanks, Dad!) and it has saved us TONS of money. We have officially ordered our last case and so now we are just working through what we have. I figure we will make it right until the end of August/first week in September with what we've got - perfect timing for that first birthday! I am going to have to start thinking about weening her off the bottle and formula in general in a couple of weeks here! I must admit that I am quite excited actually. Those bottles have so many parts to clean! We will get a solid 3 month break before we have to do it all over again...
loves her water bottle Nora has never had juice in her life. I'm trying to keep it that way as long as I can. She really likes ice cold water and we're just going to keep on keepin' on!
reaches and points She has started doing a lot more pointing. I have convinced myself that she is curious about the things she sees and wants me to tell her about them. She will point to people in pictures, light fixtures, anything.
Pointing to the chandelier.
pulls out/down everything she can Yes, into everything. EVERYTHING.
This picture makes me smile!
Here is a snapshot of Nora at eleven months:
waves bye-bye
says many different sounds (m, b, d, vowels)
signs "more", "eat", and "all done"
plays with Ford
points to things
stands alone sometimes
crawls everywhere and anywhere
eats finger foods
shares food with Ford
has 3 (almost 4) teeth
Hi cutie!
We have a busy month ahead. I will be starting back at work in less than two weeks and Nora will be starting school (daycare). I am planning a birthday bash for the sweet girl and the first few weeks of school will of course be super crazy so her birthday will be here before we know it. My, how time flies when you're having fun!
Nora found her headband and sticker.
I worked really hard to distract her from them!
Therefore...
We're "all done"!
