11 months

Dear Ava Sophia,

You turned 11 months on August 29, 2012. Writing this post literally makes your crazy old mom's eyes well up with tears. You are a month away from being a one-year-old, a fact that I am just not ready to accept quite yet. You are still (and probably always will be, as much as you may fight it someday) my little bitty baby. The baby who made me a momma. 

This month has been a lot of fun - you have certainly learned a lot and blossomed into a very independent girl who knows exactly what she wants at any given moment. You are happy when you are given free roam of the house and even happier when I open our front door and let you run free outside. You collect sticks, rocks, pinecones...anything you can get your little hands on. You would spend the entire day outside if I let you. Your favorite thing to do is run away from me, stop and make sure I'm watching you, and then run, run, run as you laugh your little head off. You love to be chased and always run away laughing, and you always come back looking for more as if to say, "Well, are you gonna chase me or aren't ya?"

You have officially learned your first word! You will walk up to any and everyone, smile from ear to ear and wave as you proudly say "Hi!" People just "ooh" and "ahh" over how cute it is to hear that tiny, high-pitched "hi." You are also learning how to say "uh oh," and "ha ya!" You understand the words dance, no, hi, bye-bye, drink, hug and kiss. You are also learning baby sign language, but the only sign you will do on command is "baby." You are close to being able to sign "drink," and we are working on "eat," "more" and "milk." 

Things that you love: 

• Dancing. Even when a commercial with a little bit of  music comes on, you will break into dance. You even dance to the hymns at church. 
• Running (not walking!). People always comment on how you went straight to running, and skipped walking entirely. haha
• Being outside. When I put on my shoes or pick up the keys, you run to the door with a big smile on your face and reach for the door handle. 
• Being chased
• Playing patty cake, playing peek a boo and giving high-fives!
• Running to the door when you hear Daddy coming home. You run straight to him and give him a great, big hug. 
• Dogs. For some reason, you think dogs are the funniest things you've ever laid eyes on. I have never heard you laugh louder or longer than when you see a puppy jumping around or barking. 
• Reading books and turning the pages yourself. You especially love the books with the soft fur you can touch. 

You eat a lot of different foods now. You drink 3 bottles a day (9am, 3pm and 9pm) and usually eat 2 "real food" meals. You love strawberries, blueberries, bananas, green beans, black beans, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, yogurt and cheese. 

You still take two naps a day, one around 11am and one around 3pm. You go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 9am. 

New things:

• You have a new tooth! A molar to be exact. No other top teeth, except one molar on the top right side. 
• Your hair is getting longer on the top and in the back, but not on the sides. There are a couple little curls in your hair in the back. Cute, cute, cute. 
• This month, we told our family and friends that you will have a new baby brother or sister in March! You were the bearer of the good news, wearing on your shirt proudly that you will be the BEST BIG SIS!
• Church has become a struggle because you want to get down and run and make noise instead of sitting quietly and being reverent. We made a goal to make it through sacrament metting without taking you out, but for the other two hours your Daddy and I take turns following you (more like, trying to keep up with you) in the hallways. Baby steps, right? :)

This is Ava signing "baby."

Well, my sweet, sweet baby Ava, I love you so much! I feel incredibly blessed to be your momma. You have brought so much joy into my life! I couldn't have asked for a better baby if I had hand-picked you myself. You are the happiest, smiliest baby who laughs all the time. I love having a baby with so much energy and such a sense of curiosity. 

Love you so much!

Momma 

PS. please don't turn one! Please just stay my baby forever!