Jayna @ 11 Months

On Tuesday Jayna turned 11 months old. Holy hell. We are now ONE MONTH AWAY from having a one-year-old.

She gets cuter and more cuddly everyday. She is smart and picks up on things very quickly. She has a wonderful understanding of language, both verbal and non-verbal. That being said, here's the list...

• Jayna eats almost everything that I eat. And why not with a million teeth?!? Her one year molars still haven't cut through quite yet, but we're working on it. Some new foods include broccoli, cauliflower, canteloupe, corn on the cob and french fries. She LOVES canteloupe and can't shove it in her mouth fast enough. Seriously cracks me up.
• She can walk while pushing something. She has a stroller that is a "kiddie push cart" and she walks around like a pro with that thing. She still hasn't figured out how to turn it, but she's coming along. She can also take a few steps by herself now, but won't very often. I think she's too afraid of falling.
• When she isn"t thinking about it, she can stand unassisted without holding onto anything for a LONG time. I'm talking like 5 or 6 minutes. But as soon as she thinks about it and realizes she's not holding onto something, she'll fall down to her knees or grab onto something.
• Her best friend is Ollie. She adores that dog. And that's what we'd hoped for all along. :) She also attacks him. I mean literally. She will crawl just as fast as she can across a room to get to him and jump on him and pull on his ears and feet and bite him...and he LOVES IT!!!
• She loves to bang pots and pans together. And now she "cooks" her puffs. She takes them out of her snack catcher, puts them into the round cake pan, puts a pot lid over them and shakes it around. And voila! Cooked puffs. And she thinks they're delicious! And so does the dog.
• She helps undress herself. She's been doing this for awhile to an extent. I let her stand at the side of the tub as I run her bath. When I ask her if she's ready to get in, she immediately starts to take off her shirt. She can't quite get it over her head, but she can get her arms out. Now when I take her out of her crib in the morning and lay her down on her changing table, she unbuttons her sleeper. Today she "helped" me take off her diaper. And it was the worst help I've ever received. :)
• She REALLY notices when something is new...toys, clothes, etc. Yesterday I put a new shirt on her and she kept touching it and looking at it and then up at me as if to say, "Okay, I approve. Cool shirt, mom."
• She understands ALOT of language. She knows what Sesame Street and Elmo are. She also knows to wave when we leave. She knows what kisses are and will usually give them on command. She knows the names of most of her toys. She picks up words at an alarming rate!
• She now shys away from people when they are new, when she's tired, or just when she just doesn't want to be bothered. She even does it to Chris and I. This is VERY cute but can be frustrating when it's time to leave the babysitter...or Nana's house.
• When she's scared (mostly of coughing) she will bury her head in the neck or chest of whomever is holding her. If she's sitting on the floor and she gets scared she'll either crawl to the nearest person and grab on for dear life and hide her face or she'll lie down on her belly with her legs tucked underneath her and press the side of her face to the floor and cover her head with her hands. Very cute!! And sad at the same time.
• She LOVES to play on the couch or the bed...where she can fall down and jump around knowing she won't get hurt. Funny...alot of pillows and cushions on the floor do the job also.
• She can already throw fits at a 3-year-old level. She doesn't do it often, but she even does the throw herself on the floor and be dead weight thing. This makes me M. A. D.
• She imitates a MILLION sounds and actions. She has been trying to figure out how to open her mouth, make a monotone sound and repeatedly cover and uncover her mouth, hence trying to make what I remember being called and "Indian Call." (I'm sure it isn't called that now, what with the P.C. craziness. Whatever the case may be...Indian Call or something else...she's figuring out how to make this noise.) Summer taught her to do it and she's been working on it by herself now. She'll turn to look at you, cover her mouth with both hands and SCREAM!! This is probably by FAR the funniest thing she's doing right now. I'll try and get a video of it.
• She will be sitting quietly playing with a toy when all of the sudden out of nowhere, she'll get up, crawl to the other side of the room AS FAST AS SHE CAN and do something else. It's really hilarious. It's like she remembers that there are other things to do and she just can't get there quickly enough.

I just did a big picture post and her 11 month pictures aren't until Saturday, so I'll leave you with a few I took of her last week and on Tuesday(complete with captions):

"The outdoor bath that you got me is GREAT for the summer!! BUT...what happens when winter comes??""Why would daddy close the bathroom door? Doesn't he know I'm out here? I'll just knock until he opens it..."

"But mom...the dogs don't even PLAY with these toys. Technically if they don't play with them then they aren't dog toys..." "It's a GREAT day to be alive!!"

I just love this kid to pieces. And it just keeps getting better...