Jane is 11 Months Old!

I know I say this every month, but I seriously cannot believe that she's 11 months old...only one month away from being a one year old!  I wish they could stay babies forever.  Here's a few things that she's doing now. 

She's not walking yet, but she cruises a lot and she's very stable, so it's not far away.

She still only has one tooth.

Jane has been my most independent, determined child.  She likes to do things by herself and her own way.  I took her and Blake swimming the other day and we were in the kiddie pool that's about two feet deep.  I had floaties on her arms, but I was still walking around the pool with her, trying to keep her up straight.  She shrugged me off and immediately began walking, then running around the pool by herself.  

She's so sweet, but that can change in a split second.  One minute she's happy and playing and the next, if she decides she's hungry or tired, she throws herself down on the floor or if I'm holding her, she arches back in an all-out meltdown.

She loves to eat mac 'n cheese by herself.  She eats a lot of it too.

Whenever she hears music, she immediately starts jiving to it.

She's a daredevil!  After I drop Natalie off at school, I usually let the kids play on the school playground for a little bit.  This year, since Natalie's a first grader, they get to play on the "big" playground.  The first day there, I set Jane down and she immediately started up the stairs, made her way to the big twisty slide, turned around backwards, smiled at me, and went down.  Then she went right back and did it again.  This girl's crazy! 

She wants to do everything brother and sister are doing.  When they draw, she wants to draw too, so I have to give her a paper and crayon.  She gets mad that she can't sit up to the table with them on a big chair.

She already loves looking at books.  She especially enjoys when Natalie reads to her.  Her favorite one right now is "Mr. Brown Can Moo".  She recently started saying "pop" (one of the sounds Mr. Brown makes in the book).  Now, whenever I tell her I'll read her a book, she points to the book basket and says, "pop!"

She thinks being told "no" means we're playing a game.  She laughs and does whatever she's doing even more.  For example, she knows the ficus tree is off limits, but she'll go over there and start pulling leaves off it.  When I say "no", she turns around and smiles and laughs and starts pulling at it again.  

She's my little "helper".  Whenever she hears me doing laundry or loading the dishwasher, she's right there and wanting me to hold her so she can look into the washing machine, or getting up on the dishwasher lid, grabbing dishes out and dropping them on our tile floor.

 She HATES wearing headbands.  It was a chore getting her to keep it on for the first few photos.  Here's the little stinker starting to take it off.  She's wearing the trouble face.

And...success!

We sure love this girl!  I know the next month will fly by too, and then my baby will be one...it's very bittersweet.