11 Months

Which of these pictures is not like the other?? That's right - that's Papa Jon at 11 months in the center photo, which I think confirms that the resemblance to her parents is definitely shared by both! (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Last Friday Hannah hit the 11 month mark (can't believe she's almost a YEAR!). We don't know how much she weighs or how tall she is, but it's clear she's had some kind of growth spurt as we've both noticed a distinct heftiness gain over the last week or so. Some of her favorite things to do are:

1) Point -- at anything and everything, from her first moment up in the crib til she goes down at night; mostly she likes to point at any/all lights.

2) Play "Where's Hannah?" -- a continuing favorite exercise, which she indicates by getting down close to the ground in front of you, basically "hiding" til you find her.

3) Swing -- a definite first, and repeated, task at any playground.

4) Explore -- as she gets more and more stable standing upright, she loves to walk around (solo, one hand on the furniture etc., or with a helping hand) and check everything out around the pad.

5) Crawl -- she still retains the "Fastest Crawler" (oxymoron..?) award, amazing strangers and friends alike when she takes off at lightening speed across any wide open space. Sometimes at night she just does laps between the door and the fireplace - maybe a 6' spread - round and round. She's like the puppy we never got!

6) Bang on Everything -- last night, she spent a good amount of time banging on the wall above our bed, while simultaneously watching herself in the closet mirror. She's definitely going to be a drummer.

7) Dance -- she often will just break into a little bouncy dance whenever she hears music - be it the iPod or just a quick little commercial on TV.

8) Babble -- the girl is almost always "talking" (unless in a busy crowded area), in her crib, to herself in the mirror, to us. Recently, I am convinced she tried to say the word "duck" (one of her favorite bathtime pals of course), making the sound "ck", but I'm sure conventional wisdom will say there's no way. Regardless, she is really good at mama and dada, and we're pretty sure knows that those words do apply to us separately. While we'll both miss the symphony across octaves of random sounds she generates, it will be a great day when she can use words instead of tears to get what she wants.. (Wait...that's not until they're like 18, right?)

Happy 11-month birthday Hannah! xoxoxoxoxo