11 months!

Has it really been almost a year since our lives were changed forever by this girl?

At 11 months, Amelia:

• is very close to walking. She has been standing unassisted and cruising for a couple of months, but recently she's finally started letting go and taking a few steps. Ms. Margaret says she waits until no one is looking and she'll walk across the room at daycare, ha. At home she has lots of furniture to hold onto so she hasn't really had to walk on her own. We've been practicing a lot lately, and I think it won't be long before she's running around.


• loves her table food! Once she realized what she had been missing all her life, she decided she was dunzo with baby food. She especially loves bread (who doesn't?), but she also likes fruit, chicken, pasta and veggies.


• loves to dance! It's like she's suddenly discovered music and she bobs her head and moves every time she hears any music. She especially loves Coldplay and Beyonce (again, who doesn't?) and she stops whatever she's doing to watch that commercial that Mary J. Blige sings on. Her first loves were Britney and Madonna, but maybe she's deciding R&B is more her style? Her daddy's pride and joy (besides her) is his extensive Itunes library, so we look forward to exposing her to lots of cool music as she gets older.


• despises getting her diaper changed and getting dressed. She hates having to be still and will scream bloody murder until we're done. See also: getting hair rinsed, nails clipped, hands washed, teeth brushed, getting buckled into the car seat, etc. I have no idea where this strong will comes from.


• has two teeth on the bottom and 3 on top that have come in in the last 2 weeks. Bless her heart.


• still thinks cell phones and remotes are better than any of her toys.


• claps her hands when we say "Yay!" and goes "Ahh" after taking a drink from her cup.


• has decided she doesn't like to keep bows in her hair:( Headbands are pretty much out of the question. Such a tragedy. However, I will not give up. I continue to put them back in as she pulls them out.


• holds a towel or her Lovie the Lamb over her face when I say "Where's Amelia?" Then she pulls it down for me to say "There she is!" We could do this for hours. We mix it up and play "Where's Mama?" too and she likes to pull down whatever is covering my face.

Here she is playing on the stairs a couple of weeks ago at my parents' house. She got up them pretty quick. Time for them to put up a gate!

Here shirt says Papa's Girl on it. Grammy and Papa got it for her on their trip to Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. She was giving herself a hand for climbing the stairs, ha.

Only one month left until the big celebration! We're planning a sweet party. Can't wait!