11 Months Update

We're into the final countdown before her first birthday. It's crazy how fast this year has come and gone. I had to go back and see what her 10 months update was about. It seems so long ago, but fast at the same time.

Maddy continues to eat well. She will go through spurts of liking a certain food, then I guess she decides she's had enough and will push those foods away. She's now graduated to eating toast 'soldiers' (a piece of toast cut into long strips) instead of small bite sized pieces. At first she was great. She'd bite a little piece off and eat it with no problem. Recently she likes to bite a piece off, chew it and then push it back out of her mouth for an inspection before eating it again. This also happens when eating other foods like pasta. She is completely enthralled by the small tiny pieces of spinach that get stuck to her hands. As you can imagine, meal times are a lot longer and messier.

Animals still continue to excite her. She used to like crows and point at them. Now...she'll practically jump out of her carrier trying to lung for them. The same goes for dogs. Sometimes we'll be walking and all of a sudden she'll start calling out. We have to really look off into the distance to see that there is in fact a dog on the far side of the park. I was once at the mall and decided to take her to the pet store to see the dogs. They had this great little seat right in front of the doggie window. She was so cute and sat there for so long, that I was beginning to worry that I'd get suckered into getting a dog.

One of Maddy's best milestones is that she's said her first word! She now says 'Da da' and we're sure that she means Josh. I've been nursing her in a dark room with the door closed because she gets so distracted. When we're finished, I always call for Josh to let him know that he can come in and play. One day, she just came off, looked toward the door and said 'Da Da', then she waited for Josh to come in. It was so fun to see her make that connection. She's also said 'Ma Ma' once or twice, but only when she's crying so I don't think it counts just yet!

On the mobility front, Maddy has come a long way since her last update. She rolls around from front to back and back to front. She can even 'army crawl' for short distances before she gets tired. In the last couple of days she's come a long way in the distance she can go before the fatigue sets in. Today we were at Sandra's house and we were amazed by Aly's ability to pull herself to standing. I tried a couple of time with Maddy, but she didn't quite understand the concept of pulling with her arms. She'd go all limp and just sit there. Well I came home and told Josh and he decided to try. Well she did it!! Is it possible that in the matter of a couple of hours, she figured it out? We did it a couple of time to make sure it wasn't a fluke. After a few of times she became really proud of herself. She was shouting and smiling as if to say "LOOK AT ME!!!!" It was amazing!

Maddy's latest favorite game to play is 'sharing'. She loves to take what she's playing with and give it to you. Then as soon as you thank her for it, she'll already be asking for it back. Back and forth, back and forth. She can't get enough of this game, so be warned. If she ever holds out a toy to you, be ready to play the game with her for a while!