11 Months Old!

Eleanor is 11 months old. 1 month away from the big day! We are all having so much fun with our almost toddler...this month has been particularly busy starting off with an awesome family trip to Seattle. We had such a great time visiting family and seeing the sights! After that it seems like Thanksgiving came out of no where but it was also a great time with great food and it was so nice to spend time with family and let Ellie have her first taste of the yummiest food ever.

Highlights of the past month:

-So far toddling has been at a minimum but she does pull herself up. We put up a pull-up bar/mirror in her play area and she seems to enjoy checking herself out. Usually she uses the bar to cruise over to her activity table which she loves! She still spends a lot of time beating on the piano and turning the page of the one-page book.

-Elle is a little monkey. She loves to climb and balance herself as close to the edge as possible, I'm afraid we may have our hands even fuller in a couple of months :)

-Talking it up! Eleanor is officially talking. Her first word was bye bye and she has since acquired a few more. Sometimes I think we imagine she is saying something but she seems to use hi and dog as well. It is really cool how she has gone from baby babbles to more grown up babbles that are mostly not words but sound a lot more like she is speaking. She "talks" to her favorite toys pretty regularly.

-Finger food has become the new excitement in our lives. Ellie loves feeding herself. So far her favorites: cheese and yogurt (or baby crack) covered cheerio things.

-Dog's Best Friend- Along with the new finger food obsession has come the discovery that the dogs like her food. Ellie feeds the dogs while she is in her highchair. Not only does she throw things on the floor when she is done eating but she actually reaches down and hands the dogs bites of food. When they come over she pats them on the head valiantly. It is pretty funny. She adores them and they are pretty fond of her as well (especially with all the treats they are now getting). We are happy that she seems to have learned the patting technique as we have been pushing that rather than the intense pinching and pulling of hair that she started with.

-Ba Ba Ba Ba Barbara Ann- Not sure how this one started but when Ellie is bored in the care we often sing Barbara Ann. She now helps us with the Ba Ba part. Very very very cute. I'm hoping she likes singing!

-Our newest method of communication-pointing! Ellie points for the things she wants. My mom even claims that when she had a very dirty diaper the other day she pointed at her changing table for a clean one. Pretty smart girl! She for sure points for more food or for people that she wants to go see.