Cate - 11 months

Y'all.....my daughter is walking!  I knew it was coming, but good grief.  Why does she have to grow up so fast?!?!?  In the last two weeks she has really taken off.  She has become very inquisitive; she loves exploring the contents of the kitchen cabinets.  So far a few strong, well-placed rubber bands have kept her at bay.  Not sure how long that will suffice.  Cate has also found the stairs.  She is so stinking fast!  And quiet!  She's like a sweet, little, blue-eyed ninja.  We'll walk through the living room and she'll be five steps up having only been out of our sight for a moment.  We may need to invest in some serious baby proofing supplies very soon.


A few firsts this month: cow's milk and baseball.  My hungry girl keeps out eating mommy. I tried several things to increase my supply, but ultimately decided to try a little cow's milk.  She wasn't phased a bit - seemed to like the taste and no adverse reactions.  We will continue with the transition to cow's milk for nutritional purposes and just nurse for comfort/connection.  I would love to say she had nothing but breastmilk until one year.  But with all we've been through, I think our nursing relationship has been a success.  She is happy and healthy and that's the whole point.  Back to baseball - the kids and I took Daddy to a Dodgers game for Father's Day.  It was hot, but fun.  Hopefully we can go to another game before the end of the season.


Cate's sweet little personality continues to develop everyday.  She has just recently started loving on her babies. She carries them around the house with her chubby little arms wrapped around whatever baby she chooses that day.  Occasionally she chooses The Hulk; maybe he's just angry because he needs a mommy.  :)  Cate is kind enough to allow Mommy and Daddy to snuggle her sometimes too. They are short lived, but cherished.



Baby Girl continues to bless us with little surprises.  One of my favorites lately is sleeping through the night.  {Queue the Hallelujah Chorus}  It's not every night and there are some early mornings, but I'll take 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep any day of the week!  We've been doing a little bit of "sleep training" the last few days.  By "sleep training" I sometimes mean gently encouraging independent sleep habits.  However, it sometimes mean running out of patience and feeling terrible listening to her cry it out.  Thankfully she doesn't seem to hold it against me.  Still doesn't mean I like it.  Another fun little surprise is her courtesy laugh.  She has the most precious little chuckle that we attempt to elicit at every opportunity.  Sometimes she does this goofy courtesy laugh just so we'll stop acting like complete goobers trying to get a real one.  What can I say? She's a smart girl.

I never would have dreamed my daughter would be such a girly girl.  Anything round becomes a bracelet.  She loves wearing her amber necklace. Good thing it looks cute because I can't tell that it's helped much with her teething trouble.  Although, when you get four new teeth in 7 days I can't imagine there is much of anything that would help.  I still can't figure out how to keep a headband on her for very long.  Maybe when a few more of those sandy blonde curls come in she'll wear a bow... We'll see... Until next time, Lovelies!