Eloise is growing up so fast! She will be 11 months old this Friday (March 2nd.) It is so strange thinking about this time last year, when I was just so ready to meet her. She just gets cuter every day, and (I know, everyone says this) I can't believe how fast the time has gone! Here are some things about her at this age that I want to remember.
-She says "hi" and "bye" pretty regularly, and mostly at the right times. Sometimes when someone is just standing by a door, she will say one. Or a minute or two after someone has left she will suddenly say "bye!" and wave.
-She says "ball" and really loves playing with them, but also sometimes gets confused and just calls anything she is playing with/wants to play with "ball."
-She loves clapping, and gets really excited when we start singing "If You're Happy and You Know It." She looks at us with a big grin and starts clapping. She also says "bap" for clap, whether she is the one doing it or someone else is. She also like to grab onto our hands and clap them together.
-She also really loves "Pat-a-cake" (with all the clapping) and plays it with my Micah's mom (Nana) all the time.
-She really likes going to basketball games. My brother Linford and my brother in law Eli are both on basketball teams, and we go to the games whenever we can. She gets to say "ball!" and she starts clapping, even when it is not our team scoring. She actually will sit on my lap and watch pretty intently for a while. Then she gets antsy and feels the need to crawl all over the benches.
-I think she could walk if she wanted. She was so excited about moving for so long, and started crawling just before 5 months. She has been pulling herself up on furniture for a few months now. She will stand on her own when she doesn't realize it. She will be holding a toy with one hand, and a chair or something with the other hand. She gets her other hand on the toy, and doesn't realize that she is standing on her own. When she does realize, she gets a really scared look, her legs get shaky, and she slowly collapses. And now I think she has realized that she likes me holding her better than moving on her own anyway.
-She says "Mama" and "Dada," but not very consistently. She mostly says "Mama" when she is sad, and wants to be held. She says "Dada" a lot when she is happy and wants to play with Micah.
-She likes the idea of sharing things, but doesn't like you to take them from her. So if she is eating something, she will put it in her mouth, take it out, and try to put it in my mouth. Same with toys. She will cuddle it, then hold it out for me to pet, or whatever. But if I try to take it, she just holds on harder and pulls it back.
-She loves music of all kinds, and dances by bouncing up and down, and waving her arms. For a while she mostly liked songs with a strong beat, so songs about dancing in clubs were her favorites. I now know all the words to "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz, because it put her to sleep when nothing else would. I have listened to it thousands of times by now. She has a palate more suitable for her age now, though. She dances through all the hymns on Sunday, too.
-She loves her stuffed animals. She cuddles with them, and gives them kisses. So cute! And whenever we go to the grocery store and she sees the stuffed animals there, she gets so excited. She says, "Ooh!" in this intense, high-pitched voice. And if we let her hold one, she hugs it really tight and bounces up and down.
-She loves cats. We have three, and she will crawl after them and get very excited just looking at them. She pets them very nicely most of the time, but sometimes will get excited and be a little rough. She also will say "Kitty" sometimes, but it's more of a breath, like "tehteh."
-She loves other babies and kids. Anytime we are out shopping, if she sees another kid in a cart she says, "Hi! Hi! Hi!" over and over while waving. My cousin Charity has a son Isaac who we play with a couple times a week usually. He is 2 and a half, so there is an age gap, but she loves him. She follows him around, and he gets scared that she will take his toys, haha. They are very cute when they play, though.
-She has just learned how to blow kisses, and breathes in when her hand is to her mouth to to make the kiss sound. I think it is probably the cutest thing she does.
-She loves the bath. Usually I just take a bath with her so that I can get a shower that day. If I try and give her toys on the bathroom floor to play with while I shower, she just comes over to the side of the bath and tries to climb in. She has some rubber ducks as bath toys, and she loves to play with them.
-We have been trying to teach her a couple signs, and so far she has picked the sign for "milk" for when she wants to nurse. She knows it, and will use it when someone else has her if she wants me. (Whether she is hungry or not.) But when I try to get her to use it, usually she just pulls at my shirt.
-(This one I am slightly ashamed of.) She LOVES The Backyardigans. Any time I turn on Netflix, she starts saying "Baba" and bouncing up and down. She especially loves the theme song. She will watch the rest of the episode on and off, but she would be happy to watch the intro on loop.
-She loves turning book pages. Most of the time I don't think she cares if I am reading or not, she just likes turning the pages.
-She loves when go to the park to swing. Every time she starts out really nervous, but after a few pushes, she kicks her legs and smiles the whole time.
-She loves being outside in general. Anytime we go outside, even walking to the car, she gets a really toothy grin, and bounces in my arms.
-She has 8 teeth. 4 on top, 4 on bottom. The 2 more on top were sneaky. I just looked in her mouth last week, and they were there.
I'm sure there is more, but that is what I can think of right now. I planned on posting pictures too, but I just realized my camera is in the car with Micah, so I will make that the next post. Thanks for reading. :)
