Myla at 11 months

To my sweet girl,

This month is a hard one for me as your mama - it is the last time that you would be turning a month, not a year... does that make sense? I just feel like your baby-ness is slipping away!

You are a delight! Everyone comments on how smily and happy you are. You especially love wooing strangers with a huge grin until they smile or talk to you. You still have just 4 teeth, but it looks like more will be coming in soon on the bottom.

We've gone to the splash pad quite a few times this month and you just love it! How do I know that? Well, the last time we had just barely gotten out of the car and you spotted the splash pad and started laughing and trying to get over there as fast as you could. You have no fear when it comes to the water and you follow the "big" kids everywhere. You even had a couple of kids "adopt" you the other day (they came and informed me that they were the king and queen and you were their baby princess).

You are walking like a pro and getting faster every day. It seems like you were just taking your first reckless step and now you're everywhere! The second you fall on your bum you start looking for something to pull up on and get going again. You haven't really gotten into cupboards or drawers yet and I think it's because you just have so much fun walking around. It's what you do for the majority of the day. You also love carrying things around with you - clothes in particular, but you also like to carry around your dolly and stuffed animals (even if they are bigger than you are). It's pretty good balance if you ask me!

We discovered a new library this month and you really enjoy the play area and playing with the other kids. You are a social butterfly! No shy bones in that body of yours :).

Daddy wanted to take you to a McDonalds playplace for the first time and you liked it alright... I was happy to see that you do have a safety filter and wouldn't cross the netted tubes that your arms could fall through. Sometimes I worry that you have absolutely no fear, but you taught me that you do have some boundaries (thank goodness).

Your favorite toys are all your books. You just want us to read and read and read to you. You like to kiss the wolf in Little Red Riding hood and really enjoy lift-a-flap books. It's pretty much the only time you stay still.

You are talking more and more and are starting to mimic words that we say. Your favorite word is "ball" and you know what a ball is - whether it is a tiny golf ball or a big basketball, you say, "baaaaallll." You also are pretty consistent with mama, dada, and banana.

I was able to put your hair in a (very small) ponytail this month! Now THAT is a milestone, ha! You still don't have very much hair. It seems to be getting darker - I don't know if you really will end up a redhead!

We took a trip to California with the Fairbanks this month (including your boyfriend, Cohen). You did so great on the trip and really enjoyed the ocean... until you started eating sand and got in trouble for it. You took one big handful and I thought for sure you'd realize how gross it was and stop eating it... wrong. You kept shoveling it in any chance you got. It was in California that you really took off with your walking.

You're still taking 2 naps a day and sleeping about 12 hours at night. We love you baby girl!