Rose is 11 Months!

She loves to cruise!

Sweet Sister Love.

More fun with Sister!

My, how time flies.  I can't believe my "tiny" baby is already 11 months!  She is learning so much and changing every day.  She is very vocal and has been for a while.  One of her favorite things to say is "Dada," and she says it frequently now, especially when he comes home from work.  She also says "Mama."  She actually says both "Baba" and "Mama" when she means Mama.  One day recently she was holding a baby doll, and it sounded like she was trying to say "dolly." It sounded kind of like "doddy."  And at swim class the other day, one of the other moms said it sounded like she was saying "baby."

She loves dogs and cats and gets really excited when she sees them.  Her word for both of them sounds something like "duh."  She can spot dogs a mile away it seems, and often notices them before I do.  She starts pointing and talking, and I look around to figure out what she's talking about.  And there in the distance is a neighbor walking two dogs, way down the street.

Her very favorite pastime right now is cruising.  In the dining room she walks around holding on to the chairs.  In the living room she cruises along the sofa, the bench, even the walls!  She has just started learning to stand without holding on to anything!  So far it seems to happen without her even trying, while she's busy with some other interesting activity or toy that she's investigating.

She is so active and curious and into everything.  She loves to open cabinet doors and drawers, so I have to watch her very closely.  This weekend we have to do a major babyproofing.  We can't wait any longer.

She also loves to empty anything and everything.  I have to keep my purse out of her reach because she loves to get in there and start pulling everything out.  Or she'll open a drawer and start flinging the contents out.  It's a challenge to keep everything picked up, but that's okay.

As I mentioned, we are doing a baby swim class.  She is really at ease in the water and likes to splash with her hands.  Rose loves the baby doll that the teacher uses to demonstrate with.  At the first class she locked in on it and started fussing that she wanted it.

Now she seems to be more used to the doll, but has changed her focus to the water toys.  At one point in class we do an activity called the "duck hunt."  The teacher dumps out a bucket of floating toys, such as colorful plastic balls, turtle bath toys, etc.  The parents hold the babies and help them "swim" around and grab the toys and put them back in the bucket.

Rose takes this game very seriously.  She loves to go after the toys and grab them and hold on to them as we make our way back to the bucket.  Then I basically have to pry them out of her hand.  I just let her continue to hold on to one toy the whole time to keep her happy.  There were times at our last class that she would start fussing and look upset, and I'd be like, "What is it, Baby?" and then I'd look where she was looking and gesturing and see a lone forgotten orange ball floating fifteen feet away at the edge of the lane.  She just had to have it.  So of course we went over there so she could get it.  Then she was happy, gripping her orange ball, with an eye out for any more toys that might be around.

Later when we were practicing teaching her to get out of the pool, she started fussing again, and I realized it was because the bucket of toys was near her and she wanted to go get into it.  This girl loves toys!

P.S.  The photos were taken about a week before she turned 11 months. ;)