Tess Is 11 Months Old!

I'm severely late with this post, partly because it's been a super busy summer and partly because it's so difficult to get Miss Tess to sit still for pictures these days.  But it turned out to be a good thing, because lots of milestones have happened in her 11th month!

Walking! Tess took her first steps on July 27th and hasn't looked back.  Her determination is so encouraging, and watching her figure it all out has provided great insight into her personality.   She isn't a quitter, but she's not hard on herself, either. 

Talking! Well, not quite.....right now she is focused on all variations of "DADA" and "NEENEE" (and at all volumes).  Occasionally there's a "MAMA" thrown in for good measure. But what she lacks in words, she totally makes up for in understanding. We can say "Get in your chair!" or "Where's your bottle?" or "It's bath time!" and she knows exactly what to do. It's fascinating to watch her mentally connect the dots on things and it happens SO quickly. This little girl is so bright and inquisitive!

Grownup Food! No more baby food for this little Miss.  Aside from having to feed her yogurt and applesauce, she is completely on table foods and feeding herself.  And she has quite the appetite!  So far the only definite "no" has been beef hotdogs.

Milk! To avoid another big formula purchase when we're so close to being done with it, we've slowly been introducing milk with her morning and night time bottles.  So far so good -- no signs of allergies!

One Nap! We had been talking about getting her onto a one-nap-a-day schedule, and trying to work toward it, when all of the sudden she seemingly decided to do it herself.   She still crashes a little bit around 10am but after a quick catnap she is good for another few hours.  Right now she usually naps from 12:00-2:30, with bedtime at 7:30.  Wakeup time is between 6:30 and 7:00.

We can't believe we're just around the corner from the big FIRST BIRTHDAY.  I keep saying....the only thing that makes her growing up easier is all the fun we're having with each new stage!

The ONLY decent shot where there is not some type of blur from her constant movement!

Here she is with Mr. Bear -- she's definitely passed him up in size!