Eleven Months: Annabelle

If you follow me on Instagram, you DEFINITELY know my sassy babe is a whole year old now... yet I somehow never got around to blogging her 11 month update, and in true Type-A personality fashion, I just can't let is slide by and skip straight to the 12 month update... so you can expect to see two Annabelle updates in a row on here before I can move on, and for that, I apologize. At least she's cute.

This month was an exciting one full of lots of travel. We road-tripped to Branson, MO to see Dan's cousin get married, and although it was a very quick weekend trip, it was really nice to see his family, and Annabelle of course enjoyed all the attention! She did NOT do so great in one of our hotel rooms (the one in Tulsa) - we had a VERY long night. But the rest of the trip was fun. A separate weekend, we drove down to Austin to visit a friend who was in town there, and that was another whirlwind trip. We also drove back to Kansas City at the end of the month, and Annabelle spent her very first night away from her mom and dad just one week before she turned one! She stayed with her Grammy and Great Meme, and she slept through the night for them - WHAT A STINKER!

Other events this month include going to see the Budweiser Clydesdales on base, watching a TON of Olympics on TV, going on walks to the park, reading books (upside down, of course), and playing in the front yard while waiting for Daddy to get home from work. 

Annabelle is nonstop energy, and we parents wish we could bottle it up and use it when we need it. It would be far more effective than caffeine, but for now, that's all we have, so it'll have to do. She just runs around all day long, and she gets distracted easily, moving on from one toy to the next. I think we need to do some serious cleaning up of the toys so she isn't overwhelmed with so many options all the time - I read about putting various toys in separate storage type boxes and pulling out a new one each day for a week (and rotating through them) so kids will actually play with all of their toys, so we may try that soon. We'll see! 

Annabelle was wearing size 3-6 months and 6 months clothing during her 11th month of life - she's tall, but she's a string bean for sure, so she wears smaller than average clothing (except footed pajamas since she's so tall). Her feet are still itty bitty - she's in a size 2, but they're way too long for her. She needs the size 2 because they're pretty chunky, though. 

I'm still so flabbergasted at how quickly time flies by. 11 months went by in a FLASH, and I can't even believe it! 

Ten Months: Annabelle

Somehow, our sweet baby girl is ten months old already. This actually happened ten days ago, so it's even crazier how old she is getting!

Annabelle is growing like a weed, both in size and personality! She is the sassiest, funniest baby, and we just love her so much more than we ever thought possible.

She's still calling me 'mum' and calls Dan 'dada', and her biggest news this month: SHE'S WALKING! She had been taking steps since about 8.5 months (just 2 or 3 steps at a time), and somewhere just after turning nine months old, she started taking more steps - LOTS more. Her personal best that I have counted is 23 steps in a row before falling down. It's so fun to watch her walk, but she still chooses to crawl a lot as well. She's only slightly faster while crawling, but we don't think she realizes how quickly she walks since she's so focused on staying balanced.

Annabelle still has teeny, tiny feet, so we don't have any shoes that actually fit her for walking. She wears mocassins sometimes, and we have a pair of shoes that's at least one size too big, but they work when they need to (ie: when we're outside and letting her practice walking). 

She's the happiest baby and is becoming such an adventurous eater. She loves yogurt (yoyo) and everything we are eating. She isn't a fan of super spicy foods, but I guess that is to be expected. She giggles so hard for her daddy when he gets home from work, and she loves walking down the street with him to check the mail. 

We go on one or two walks each day (we have to break them up into smaller walks since it's so hot outside here in Texas), and she waves at everyone she sees on the street / at the park. 

Annabelle went swimming in a big pool for the first two times when family was in town and staying at a hotel - she LOVED it and kicked the whole time - AND she slept great both of those nights. 

I've started planning Annabelle's first birthday party. I can't believe it's less than two months away. I am looking forward to it (hello, end of pumping!) but also dreading it because it's so sad to think this teeny, tiny baby stage is already behind us. We are looking forward to seeing what this month brings! 

Nine Months: Annabelle

My sweet baby girl is 75% of one year old. How is time passing so quickly? It's crazy to think that it'a already June... it's the beginning of summer, and I so keenly remember going into last summer knowing it was my last one alone and that I'd have a perfect baby in my arms at the end of it.

Sure enough, September arrived, and Annabelle entered the world. The fact that it's JUNE now just blows my mind. I am flabbergasted.

She is growing so much and changing daily. She is learning new skills, like how to stand on her own. She's constantly babbling, just trying to get us to understand her adorable little language. She loves her pets, but only one of them loves her back. She is finally excited about meal time and exploring new food options. Her favorite is still butternut squash, but she's added homemade avocado pineapple yogurt to her eclectic palate.

Annabelle went on her very first flight this month (actually six flights!), played with her sensory spaghetti, fell in love with her duck pond water table, and got all patriotic for Memorial Day. She is a busy little bee for sure, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Annabelle shows her attitude daily - she is incredibly stubborn and strong-willed. We have no idea where she got either trait. Just kidding. She loves to smile at herself in the mirror, jump up and down to music (or just because), and hang out in the backyard with us while her daddy grills dinner.

We can't take her anywhere in public without being stopped a million times by people who want to talk to her or smile at her. She loves flirting with anyone who will give her attention, and if she wants someone to notice her, she will go to great lengths to attract them - from staring and smiling continuously to fake coughing to reel them in... followed by more smiles. She just loves people.

We feel so blessed to be this spunky girl's parents and can't wait to see what the next month brings! She is turning into such a fun little person to hang out with.