If time flies when you're having fun, then we must be having the time of our lives! Our little Kendall is 11 months old (as of last Sunday -- oops, I'm 8 days late here!) I ordered her 1st birthday party invitations (!) and I swear just last week I was working on her birth announcements. She is cruising on furniture and it seems like a couple months ago I could place her in the middle of the bed and know she wouldn't move an inch. It feels like she just gave us the biggest surprise of our lives when she arrived, and yet Kendall is such a huge part of our family it feels like she's always been here.
Disposition: I feel like a broken record, but Kendall is still the happy, sweet, cuddly, sensitive, content, and easy-going baby we've always had. Another word that describes her is curious! She is off the charts in the curiosity department now that she's mobile; she wants to get her hands on everything and man, is she a speedy crawler to get to what she has her eye on!
Sleeping: Kendall wakes up happy as a lark these days and apparently that means she likes to wake up with the larks. The girl has been rising and shining for the day within the 5 o'clock hour for the last few weeks. Oooff! On the flip side, her short catnaps may be a thing of the past as she's now taking two longer naps each day - each about 1 to 1.5 hours. Her sleeping has all just kind of shifted around lately! She still goes to bed around 7 pm but just doesn't want to miss out on anything once the sun rises.
Eating: Kendall is eating three meals a day with us in her high chair, but still nurses four times daily as well. We've dropped a nursing session since last month and will probably work on phasing out another one soon - it's just not very easy to break routines that have been in place for so long. As for foods, Kendall loves feeding herself fruit/veggie pouches and any finger foods. She is a huge fan of cheese and yogurt (just like her sister), crackers, baby rice cakes, bananas, strawberries, toast, and puffs. We're working on those veggies. She's also drinking water from a sippy cup at each meal - she loves it (and she equally loves throwing it onto the ground!) Kendall just has her two bottom teeth, but more will probably emerge soon; until then, we love her gummy grin!
Mobility: Kendall is one heck of a quick crawler and she's now pulling herself up on anything and everything. She loves to stand and cruise on the furniture and ottoman. Walking is definitely on the horizon as she enjoys holding onto hands to walk, but has yet to take a step on her own. She's just about there though! She can stand independently for several seconds and when we cheer her on, she even claps for herself while standing. These little paws love to clap, as you can see...
Vocalics: Kendall is doing more and more exploring with her voice. She still says "dat" to almost everything and also loves to say "dada!" (especially when I ask her to say "mama" - stinker!) When Michael comes home from work or enters the room, we swear she says, "Ha-dah" which sounds like, "Hi, Dad!" She loves to squeal with delight, laugh with Katelyn, roar like a lion, and cries when something doesn't go her way. She loves to get people's attention by making vocal noises and she gets especially noisy watching Katelyn at gymnastics because we're in the viewing room. I think she wonders why Katelyn doesn't respond to her pleas for attention :) She also says "uh-oh" sometimes when prompted.
Tricks: It's so much fun to see Kendall interact more with the world around her. She waves hello and goodbye (with prompting, most of the time, but has been known to do it spontaneously too), dances to music by bouncing up and down, claps her hands whenever she hears the expressions "Yay!" or "Good job!", and she loves to give hugs. She also does "soooo big" when we ask her how big she is - when she does that trick for people and they like it, she keeps doing it again and again for more and more reactions. We've been working on a few signs and whenever I sign for "more?" while she's eating in her highchair, she responds affirmatively by opening and closing her hand (like a wave), so I ask if that means yes and she giggles and giggles. What a girl!
Kendall still loves baths, playing with Katelyn (or should I say, snagging Katelyn's toys from her...), exploring, interactive toys, and balls (she LOVES to throw balls and is always drawn to them in a room full of toys). She doesn't like getting her diaper changed (too much to see and do to be bothered with that!) and when she's reached her limit and is ready for bed, she's not shy about letting us know by fussing and rubbing her eyes.
Kendall Jean, you are such a ray of sunshine! We love your insatiable curiosity, sweet snuggles, and vibrant personality. You bring so much life to our family and we can't get over how lucky we are to be your parents! You are wonderful. You are loved. We are blessed.
2 comments:
Kendall, you are such a sweetheart. It's so fun to see how you are learning and growing each time we visit. It melts our hearts when you see Papa and me and smile from ear to ear and hold out your arms wanting us to hold you. We love your hugs and kisses too!
Happy 11th month birthday, Kendall! You've changed from just a month ago! I'm seeing hair growing over the top of your ears!! And it still looks like a bit of red tint, too! You are such a pretty little one with your pretty smile and fun personality!
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