It’s unreal that my baby girl is almost a year old! So, I figured before that milestone officially arrives, I should catch you up on the last installments of her monthly photos from 8-11 months. These have been REALLY fun ages, with so many great skills gained and so much of her adorable personality shining forth.

E I G H T | M O N T H S

At 8 months she is as sweet and beautiful as ever, and so so much fun. She’s already forgoing “baby” toys in favor of her brother’s toys or non-toy items altogether. She’s fairly interested in most foods she’s tried thus far, but especially loves avocado mixed with banana and is recently enamored by her first experience with puffs. Her favorite new game is grabbing her dress or a nearby blanket to cover her face and then laughing and pulling it down when I say “peek-a-boo!”. She’s officially on the move with lots of rolling in all directions and some scooting on her belly when she’s motivated to grab something. She’s (finally) sleeping a solid 8-9 hours through the night and is often facing the complete opposite direction by morning than she started out. This month has been a big one in all the skills she’s mastering and more than anything her snuggles and giggles and babbles continue to be our favorite. Llewyn recently deemed her “the best baby in the world!” and I couldn’t agree more. :)

N I N E | M O N T H S

At 9 months somehow this girl has now been outside of me as long as she was inside. *cue all the tears* The passage of time is such a strange and mysterious thing. But man oh man what fun she is at this age! She rolls all over, goes from sitting to almost being on her hands and knees but is still a little unsure. She loves shaking her head back and forth (as Mama Ro calls it: “shaking your locks”), babbling, squealing and playing with her brother’s toys. She is now officially sleeping 10.5-12 hours solid at night and this mama is rejoicing! She loves food and drinking (playing) with her water sippy cup. She’s unsure of her thoughts about being in a big pool, but splashes happily in the baby pool in our backyard. She lights up when Llewyn comes near her and she hugs him back when he gets close to kiss her. :)

T E N | M O N T H S

Where is the time going?! At 10 months she is so much fun and full of personality and in the last month has started waving (cutest thing), saying “mama” (first official word! Doesn’t say it that often but it’s happened several times) and I’m pretttty sure she said “dada” twice yesterday. She is SO close to crawling but just can’t quite figure it out yet, which leaves her frustrated often – you can tell she wants to be on the move so badly. I think it’s just a matter of time, and meanwhile she rolls all over the place! Girl LOVES her food, won’t keep a bib on and naturally rubs her food-covered hands through her hair at nearly every meal. She’s also taken to ripping out her hair bows quite often (much to my dismay). She giggles and babbles and this age is just so fun!

E L E V E N | M O N T H S

11 months! We hit some big milestones in this past month, namely: starting to officially crawl and cutting her first two teeth! (The bottom middle two) She plays so happily, already gives her brother a run for his money by going after the toys he’s playing with, LOVES being tossed by daddy (and giggle screams like a pro – think roller coaster style – while it’s happening). She pulls up to her knees and does an excited little dance when we put music on, and continues to love waving hi or bye to people. Has learned to sign “more”, definitely says both “mama” and “dada” and loves reading books now – especially turning the pages. Her favorites are Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?, Your Baby’s First Word Will Be Dada and touch/feel books. She loves food, sleeps great, gives the best open mouthed kisses and is truly so much fun and such a joy at this age. Also, hair officially long enough for real pig tails, and I’m a big fan. She is such a treasure and we thank God every day for adding her to our family!

Truly can’t believe that in less than 2 weeks she will officially be a year old. What a year this has been! <3