11 months

Gabriella is 11 months today.  Last night, as we were driving home from my Mom and Dad's, we drove the reverse route that we took to get to the hospital the night that Gabriella was born.  Michael and I agreed that the past 11 months have flown by...it seems like just yesterday we got into the car to make our long trek to the hospital (at 9 1/2 cm no less) and have our baby!

11 months finds Gabriella ever more active.  She almost never slows down. Even when she takes her bottle, she drinks like she is on a deadline (we're talking 1 min per oz).  I talk to other moms who have said how much they enjoyed it when their kids started feeding themselves the bottle because it gave them 20 minutes to get things done - haha - I don't even get 10 minutes!  

When people meet her, we still get the same two responses over and over:  "She's beautiful" and "She's very serious, huh?"  Gabriella won't share her smiles with just anyone, but we are lucky to see that one toothed grin pretty often.  She still is more of a squeeler (and always with her hand in her mouth) than a laugher.

We stopped by the pediatrician on our way out of town last week and Miss Gabriella weighed in at 18 lbs 2oz with her diaper on.  She is still in 6-12 month clothes and seems like she will likely stay in that size through the winter.  In the past month, we have finally graduated to 6-12 month shoes.  

She is still quite the chatter bug and her favorite this to say is "ducka ducka ducka" which as far as we know does NOT mean duck.

Gabriella has been toddling around for a couple of weeks now and it is so funny to watch her.  She still crawls when she stumbles but is walking more and more each day.  She can stand up on her own but will rarely do it.  She prefers to pull up on something and set off from there.   

She LOVES music and we go to a fun sing along activity once (sometimes twice) a week.  When music starts up she smiles and claps her hands.  She also smiles and claps when other people are clapping as if she is in on some inside joke.

She is becoming more and more comfortable being left with other people, whether it be with family, sitters, play care at the gym or the nursery at Church (which we tried for the first time just before Christmas).  

She is still our little fish and truly loves being in the water, whether it be the bathtub or the swimming pool.     

We are having so much fun with her and I am looking forward to playing with her with with no distractions for the next few weeks!