11 Months

It's so hard to believe that just 1 month from yesterday we are going to be celebrating Tatum's first birthday! This year has just flown by! My sweet precious 11 month old! Tatum's personality is definitely showing itself more and more. She is adventurous and risky! She likes to explore every nook of our house and bothers things that Jack never even dreamed of bothering when he was a baby. She is CONSTANTLY unloading bookshelves and trying to unload the bottom shelf of the fridge and the dishwasher. We will be in the kitchen and if you open up the fridge she will drop whatever she is doing and "run" (only she is still just crawling) to the fridge so you can't close it! She takes out all the salad dressings and just laughs at you when you put them back and close the door! She keeps us on our toes. I think we have taught her now not to go after the trash cans! She is standing up and cruising furniture but is really making no effort to let go or to walk. And, just for the record - we are totally okay with that! She does try to take a few steps when you hold her hands but not much. Once again since I do that for a living (help kids learn to walk) I'm not really working on it at home :-) She'll get it when she gets it! Tatum has always been a very good sleeper but getting teeth has really thrown that off! She is now usually waking up once at night and wanting to nurse before she will go back to sleep. She usually goes back to sleep right away and I'm pretty sure it's just for comfort, but I guess that's part of the job - comfort your baby when her teeth are bothering her! Last night she didn't wake up at all and needless to say I was happy! She has had her 2 middle bottom teeth for a while and now she has one of her top middle teeth (it seems HUGE) and the other top middle tooth is coming in too. It really changes her look! She is looking older and older especially when she'll let me put a little bow in her hair. It's getting a little bit thicker so it will hold a clip bow and it's super cute but she usually won't leave it alone very long. I'm trying to work up her tolerance! ha! When I took the picture for this post she had a bow in and took it out after only 2 minutes before I could snap a picture! oh well! Just trust me - it's cute!

Tatum is starting to eat more and more table foods. She really likes sweet potato and little pieces of chicken. She will eat black olives and beans and peas and bananas and bread and pears. Oh, and she REALLY likes her bananas and sweet potatoes the best! She isn't a huge fan of the cup yet as she is still primarily nursing but as soon as she can make the transition to whole milk - we'll push the cup a little bit more. She just plays with it now.

She is becoming more and more vocal. One day she was babbling and Chris said, "I really think she knows exactly what she just said!" She really tries to say, "duck!" I think that's her first official word besides mama and dada. She is working on Jack but it really sounds more like, "ah-da" with an emphasis on the "da" part. But, she is definitely talking about Jack when she says it. She uses sign language now and can sign for more, milk, and dog consistently. We are working on eat and please and book. Speaking of books - she LOVES to be read to! Her favorite book is the classic Brown Bear Brown Bear. She will sit in your lap for about 10 books at a time if you'll keep going. It's crazy!

Tatum is also eager to smile and clap her hands. She likes to wave and she likes to go to her little Bible class and listen to all the songs. She enjoys going to Ms. Melody's house 2 days a week too. She is just all around a wonderful baby who is at that crazy age where she is starting to take it all in and is able to communicate more and more each day!

We love you Tatum and cannot imagine life without you!!!