11 Months!!!

Deia is 11 months old today! Happy birthday snoosh snoosh! Wow. Ok. With every passing day I am so much more in love with this child. Her little personality is entertaining, silly, smart, snuggly and warm. She gives great hugs and sometimes gives great kisses. She used to give kisses when you asked for them. Now, she gives kisses when she wants to, which actually makes them even more sweet. Those little pearly lips smile soooo much, and now to reveal all 4 of her teeth! Her hair is getting longer and thicker and her new set of "under-bangs" are coming in :-) Deia's eyes are an interesting shade of blue-green and they change colors based on what she is wearing. I love her in greens, pinks and turquoise the most. She will walk using her wooden walker, her stroller or even an ottoman that slides easily on the floor. She is getting more risky in her attempts to dance, drink her bottle and clap as she stands unassisted. Deia really does look for every opportunity to stand up and in her stance she calculates her best approach to wherever she wants to go. Still, she drops to the ground and crawls there. But a step or two is on the horizon for sure! When she does crawl around, she must carry at least 2 things in one hand and if that becomes difficult for her, she'll toss one item and put the other in her mouth like a little puppy playing fetch. She loves saying HI, which has replaced how much she loved to say bye bye. Hi dad, bye dad, na-na, mama, dada, p-ba (peekaboo) are all favorites. Deia loves her toddle tunes class and is having a ton of fun with her friends in Jackie's class. She puts her little fingers high in the air when Twinkle Twinkle is sung and bounces with excitement for The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Her home faves are still Harry Belafonte and Bob. Deia LOVES to dance. Her little body bop in now complimented by knee bends, swaying arms and hands and a hula-body roll type movement. Any beat, any song...it's wonderful to watch! Elmo and Dora are ever-present in the moments when we need her to chill out while we tend to matters of the home. Sleep training was about to commence, until the 3 of us got the stomach flu this weekend. I am pretty sure there is nothing worse than having that kind of illness and taking care of your child with the same bug. OMG, brutal. I appreciate Deia's tremendous patience through these awful few days. I am pretty sure she made it through all of Grease (1 & 2), Madagascar and a couple episodes of Entourage. We'll get the sleep thing down when the time is right and we are all well. For now, I am happy she is in her crib, surprisingly excited to know that we will be cuddling shortly anyway. It's funny how, with your baby, there are those moments where you have had enough....only to forget that feeling in an instant and realize you just can't get enough!