11 Months Old

Only one more month before my baby is a year old! I feel so conflicted. I feel sad that it went by so fast. I want to turn back time and enjoy those baby months a little longer. On the other hand, I'm excited to see her grow up. She's already becoming such a little person with a mind of her own.

Phaedra is so close to walking. She actually took a few steps while we were staying at the beach house, but they were those wobbly, quick steps taken to get from one hand-hold to the next. She seems to think crawling is an inconvenience now. She walks along objects as long as she possibly can before getting down to crawl. She loves to walk holding onto fingers, but she gets distracted by objects around her. She doesn't walk for the sake of walking; she holds onto fingers to get to her next destination. She can walk pretty well just holding on with one hand. I'm sure she'll be walking on her own very soon.

She is such a climber! She quickly found and mastered the stairs when we went to the beach house, but she would only up the stairs. She would get to the top and try to maneuver a safe way down, but she would get nervous and decide to stay upstairs. She figured out how to climb onto the ottoman at the beach house. She can climb onto our family room couch if there is anything in front of it to give her a boost --even if it means climbing a person. She is very determined to learn to climb onto that couch by herself, since we put everything we don't want her to reach on it, but so far, her legs are just a little too short. She can climb onto the bricks in front of both of our fireplaces, causing me to run for her whenever she gets to the living room one. She can climb Eleanor's step stools, both steps. She has climbed onto our dining room chairs, and she has also had them fold on top of her several times since they fold up so easily.

She can say a fairly recognizable version of the words Daddy, Mommy, and dog (or doggie).

She must have a dance mix in her head all the time. When she hears a song playing (even if it's the ABC's on some musical toy), she stands up, points her fingers in the air, and bounces up and down. That girl can boogie! Even when she climbs out of her buckles in her booster seat and wiggles out from under her tray, she stands up, points her fingers in the air, and dances to the song in her head. When she does this, we usually tell her to sit down, and she usually squats down for a second, just long enough for us to tell her she's a good girl, and then stands up to dance once again.

She loves to make new sounds. She used to study me whenever I made the sound you make when you flick your tongue against your top lip while humming (sorry, that's the best I can explain it). She would watch me closely, sticking her tongue out and in, trying to do what I was doing. She would even do the motion with her tongue sometimes to cue me to do it so she could study it a little more. She figured out how to make the sound a month or so ago, but it sounds a little different since she has no top teeth.

Eleanor has certain favorite songs she likes in the car sometimes. When we listen to those, Eleanor and I are singing along, and I can hear Phaedra back there, clicking her tongue to the beat.

Phaedra gets more difficult to feed each day. She wants independence! It also doesn't help that I think she is teething again. I only get a few spoonfuls in her mouth before she is waving her hands at the spoon when it comes near and shaking her head at me. I have to keep plenty of finger foods near by to give her something she feels like she is doing herself while I try to shovel in the baby food. I don't have much choice when she only has two teeth. Lately, she's really noticing our food and wanting it. The crazy girl, though, will eat just about anything she finds on the floor, including all sorts of things never meant to be digested by humans, but as soon as I put some of our food on her tray, she examines it and plays with it as if I'm trying to poison her. She often throws it on the floor so that as soon as she's finished eating, wiped off, and set down, she eats it off the floor.

As I said, I think she is teething. It doesn't look good this time. She has a swollen spot to the side of her two bottom teeth, she's swollen where her top two teeth will come in, and she's possibly working on one next to the top two. I just hope they take turns instead of coming in all at once. Poor girl! I wouldn't be too surprised if they did come in all at once, considering how cranky she has been these last few days.

Phaedra has a great sense of humor. When I'm trying to soothe her a little bit to help her wind down and go to bed at the beginning of the night, she tries to do things to make me laugh. It all started one night when she was snuggled in my arms and suddenly lifted her head up and gave me a few hearty pats on the chest with her hand. It was so sweet and random, I couldn't help but laugh. She laughed, and then she did it again. Since then, she tries that when she's feeling silly at bedtime. If that doesn't work, she tries other ways to play with me and egg me on until we are both goofing off and giggling instead of getting her sleepy. She is so fun!

I love how she puts one arm around yours when you hold her. It seems like it took forever before Eleanor would do this. Phaedra wiggles and squirms so much that it doesn't help much in holding her, but it is very endearing. She gives great hugs, where she wraps one arm behind your neck and lays her head against your shoulder. I love those hugs. On one of these hot summer days, we went to Ben and Cindy's house to swim in the evening. Studio Grandpa showed up briefly to drop off Lucero and the kids. Phaedra and I were in the pool, but as soon as she saw Grandpa, she wanted him. He said hello to her, but she kept hanging on the edge of the pool and climbing her little feet up my front to try to get to him. I finally told him, "Grandpa, this little girl wants you." Obviously, he didn't want her all that much since she was dripping wet, but he picked her up and held her at arms length. She got reached one of her arms up to his shoulder and was trying for all she was worth to pull him in close for a proper hug. It was a funny sight to see her clinging to him and trying to snuggle up, with her dripping body held away so only her head and arms were close to him.

She has become an expert at squirming out of your arms when she wants to get down. These last two weeks at Eleanor's swim lessons, she has fought me to get down and get to the water. Luckily, last week I brought a toy to entertain her so I wouldn't have to fight her the whole time. I can't believe how well she can make it so hard to keep hold of her!

I think we can safely say her eyes are going to stay blue. There has been much speculation since I have no siblings or parents with blue eyes, and neither does Grant. Somehow, those genes broke through, and she is our little blue-eyed girl. Maybe she got them from her Great-Grandma Wallace. Any traits or qualities she wants to inherit from my Grandma Wallace are fine with me; she truly was an elect woman.

Phaedra will be a year old in the blink of an eye. I have enjoyed her so much these past 11 months. I'm sure I will continue to enjoy her. She is such a sweet, dear little girl. I love my girls so much.