Elsie's 11 Months

This week our little girlfriend hit her last big milestone before the one year mark.  11 months!!!!  Every month I find myself asking how we got here and this month is no different.  I feel like I have done a better job of cherishing every moment with Elsie than with other two, knowing she is my last baby and yet time is still slipping through my fingers.  So here is a rundown of Elsie at 11 months.

Elsie still does her hybrid "wild animal" crawl and I have given up on her crawling any other way.  She pulls herself to stand on anything and everything and sometime barley anything at all. She cruises along on furniture and will walk with her walker or a chair or someones finger.  She has taken a couple steps a few times but typically sits down as soon as she realizes what she is doing.

Elsie has a handful of words that she says.  Her most favorite word is "mama" and she loves to say it both day and night.  She also says "more" and "dada" and "baba" (for water bottle).  I think she has also said "bubba" (brother) a few times.  I have been trying to teach her "water" because she loves water but usually just screams when she wants it.

Elsie has become pickier lately with the foods she will eat.  She has decided that she is more or less done with baby food, but loves big people food and to feed herself.  Her favorite foods are bananas, cheese, graham crackers and anything in a squeeze pouch.

She has two teeth on the bottom and three and a half on the top.  She has more teeth and less hair than either her brother or sister at this age.  Her hair still has a little bit of a red tint to it, but is more blonde than red.  I feel like her eyes still haven't settled into their final color yet, but they are more brown than anything else  at this point.

On the sleeping front, we have seen some improvements lately.  Elsie is now falling asleep on her own for both naps and bedtime.  This has thankfully translated into some increased self soothing skills at night.  Several nights this past week I only nursed her once during the night.  She is often still waking up a few other times in the night and needs me to talk to her on the monitor, but at least I don't have to get up every time and for the first time in the long time I am hopeful for the future.

More than anything what defines Elsie is a happy, sweet, and easy going disposition.  She is such a joy to have in our family and we can't wait to celebrate her big first birthday, now just around the corner.