One More Month Until ONE!!!!

Our beautiful happy girl

I love this one because it looks like she is dancing. In reality, she is trying to catch herself from falling!

No more sitting for her month to month pictures. This girl has places to be!

Our standing girl. She always looks at her feet as if to say, "Feet, don't fail me now!

This is her new face. Believe me it is REALLY cute when she manages a full pucker.

Always going for the camera!

Kate agrees puffs in her mouth are much tastier than puffs on the floor!

A view of the top 2 teeth

Happy 11 months to the sweetest girl in the world! Today I ordered Kate's 1st birthday party invitations. Can it be that our sweet little girl will be One a month from today? Can it be that before she hits that first birthday she will be a big sister? Our little girl is growing by leaps and bounds in front of our eyes! This month marked huge milestones for Kate. We have a crawler in our house! She is making great crawling strides and is quite pleased with herself that she has found a means to get where she wants to go. She is pulling up on everything! The look of pride on her face is so heartwarming to us. She is accomplishing big things and she knows it! She also stood by herself with her Auntie Care for the first time. And I have seen this a couple of times since then. She is getting the hang of following behind her walker stroller that we bought her for Christmas. At first she would let it get away from her and still hold on as her little body was splayed out on the floor. Now she is starting to get the fact that she has to follow it with her feet when she moves. Her vocabulary is growing as she is trying to say some new things. She tries to mimic her little stand up table that announces "I see you!" but for now it comes out as "Ah say du!" She is still saying her "Da das", "Mamas", "Nanas", and has added a great version of "Mimi" as my Mom was delighted to hear on the phone the other day. She is still counting her 2 and will even work backward if we start from 3. Such a smart girl this one! This month and last month meant 2 new teeth on top and one more additional tooth on the bottom for a total of 5 teeth!!! Also a huge accomplishment in eating. She is feeding herself. Before, when I would put the puffs or cheerios in front of her she would pick them up and throw them as if they were toys. Now she actually feeds them to herself. Our next goal is to get her to use a cup. She has no interest in it whatsoever. I am sure she is thinking, "Why would I want to drink from that when a bottle is so much easier!!?!?" As a Mom, I am realizing that with more mobility comes the introduction of some discipline. As in "No Kate!" I couldn't believe I was speaking those words as my little girl was trying to explore the outlet plug. All I could think of was, "Here we go!" I am definitely starting a new kind of prayer in my mind. A prayer of guidance from God in this area. Before, it was easy. She did what we wanted her to do because she had no choice. Now she is developing a mind and will of her own. Wonderful. That is what I wanted for her before she was born. But now it is our job to guide that mind and will. I pray that we will be worthy of that huge task! The next time I write about her milestones it will include 1st Birthday pictures and will be preceded by newborn pictures of Carson! This next month will be a huge roller coaster ride of change and possibilities. Hold on! Here we go!