Happy 11 Months Melody!

*I know your birthday is tomorrow but I am just now posting your 11 month post!*

Oh sweet Melody Rose.........are you really about to be 1 year old?  I just can't believe it.  I can recall every single second of that amazing day you were born thanks to my crazy memory!  It seems like yesterday I was in that hospital bed yet it also seems like forever ago because of the difficult year we have had.  You are still the bright little star you have always been and have the sweetest, bubbliest personality!  Addison still thinks you hung the moon.  You are constant entertainment for her and I believe your bond grows more and more as you get older!  This pic is a typical moment in our house right now.  She just loves to hug on you and squeeze you at any moment.  You tolerate her and usually let out lots and lots of giggles when she does this wrestling move on you.

 

This is what you do while I'm in the kitchen making breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Poor thing.  It always looks like you're in jail!  You will stand there shaking the bars like, "Get me outta here"!  We have had this gate here since we came home from Dallas so Addison would have to stay on the soft floor.  It has kept you out of the kitchen a good bit too.  

Here you are watching Addison play on the coffee table and wanting to participate so bad! 

This past month you got tonsillitis.  Addison had it about 2 weeks before you and I guess it finally caught up to you.  I was hoping you wouldn't catch it and was all proud when it had been a week and you still hadn't gotten it.  I was swearing it was the breastfeeding that was keeping you healthy!  Oh well.  If anything, it has certainly bonded you to me!  You are one mama's girl!  Anytime I come home and someone has been watching you, you will just panick until you get to me.  That's when we see you crawl the fastest! You are a mover and a groover!  You still LOVE to nurse and that makes me LOVE it as well.  I just don't know if I can think about stopping.  Of course I will somewhere around the corner but gosh I don't know what you will do.  It is kinda sad to think about!  I also know you are my last baby and I'm just gonna hold on to certain baby things for as long as I can.  You like to wake up around 6 in the morning.  We could put a stop to this but we respond to you immediately so that you don't wake Addison.  Matt will go get you and bring you into our bed.  You get super excited to see me and will cry until he puts you in my arms.  I get all comfy with a thousand pillows and you just nurse away.  This will put all of us back to sleep until Addison wakes up around 7.  I always say you like to wake up early cause you know you can get that one on one time with me.  This is another reason I don't want to quit!  If you continue to wake up at 6, a sippy cup full of whole milk will NOT soothe you and put you to sleep!  This is gonna be a tough one:(
You went for your 1st dermatologist appointment this month.  I had noticed a little growth on the back of your arm since you were around 3-4 months old and decided it was time to check it out.  They had to do a biopsy and thankfully it turned out to be a plugged hair follicle.  Whew.  They of course had to numb it and then it took 3 people to keep you still while taking it off.  You were fine until they had to hold you down.  They tried to do this "mommy prep" talk and warn me that they have to numb it with a needle and it might be upsetting and all that.  I was like, "Ok, yeah.  Just go ahead and do it."  I don't think they were up to date on all we have been through this last year and how a little shot and tears just aren't that big of a deal.  I think my skin has gotten pretty thick!  I am pretty sure we know what real problems are and when to get upset now!

You are an amazing eater and will just about down anything that we give you.  You would much rather prefer table food over baby food and basically beg for anything we have.  So, I have recently started just chopping up lots of mixed fruits and veggies for you.  You LOVE them.  You also prefer cheerios over puffs.  I use to cut the cheerios in half cause I wasn't sure if you would choke on a whole one.  Well, you would have no patience to wait on all that and would just grab the whole ones and shove them in your mouth.  I guess you were trying to prove something to me!  I tried macaroni noodles on you tonight and you of course loved them too.  I believe your favorite part is when we take your tray off and all of the dropped food is now exposed in your lap.  You just start lapping it up as fast as you can!  I get worried that you might get sick because you will just eat and eat and eat.  Your favorites foods are bananas, carrots, green beans, cheerios, pears, and lima beans.  You love to share your food.  You will take a bite and then hold up a piece to my mouth.  If I take a bite, you will let out a big giggle.  Then it becomes a fun game for you!

I think you might be my dancer.  It is NO secret how much I love to dance and loved it growing up.  Anytime I sing or break out dancing (which is often), you will smile sooo big and start bobbing your head to the beat and totally mimick it!  I pointed this out to Matt the other night and it was not by chance.  You do this all the time now!

You are on the GO GO GO and VERY curious!  I think when Addison was this age she was more content with hanging out in the living room/kitchen.  Really wherever we were.  YOU on the other hand are everywhere.  It is pretty much your mission to constantly find new little undiscovered places and put anything and everything your not suppose to in your mouth!  You just want to make sure you aren't missing out on anything delicious! 

You are still only saying, "Ma Ma, Da Da, and Uh oh. "  You say, "Uh Oh" quite a bit and it is usually after you drop something or do something that you're not suppose to do.  It sounds so sweet and innocent.  Precious!  Sometimes you will repeat little noises that we say over and over.  You are all ears because sometimes we will say something (real simple) and not even think anything about it and then you will repeat the sound the best you can.  Wow- we've got 4 little ears listening to every word we say! 

You love to be outside and start kicking your legs really hard and get real vocal when I open the door to let the dogs out.  You love to crawl over to the dog door and peep out that little window that is just your size.  I think you could sit and stare outside all day long!  I can't stand for you to hang out right there though cause you find so many nasty, outdoor things to put in your mouth!  I try my hardest to catch you in time, but sometimes there's just no telling what it was that went in your mouth.  Seriously, the other day I caught you out of the corner of my eye and made a beeline towards you to scoop whatever it was out of your mouth.  By the time I got to you, you had thrown it out.  Guess what my surprise was?!?  A nice little caterpillar/worm!  WHAT!  It was like those little green ones but instead was brown.  I guess it had crawled in through a crack by the door.  At least you decided you didn't like it!  It totally freaked me out and made me want to cry!