Time to Just Accept It: You Are 11 Months Old

11 Months Old.  Bruised cheek and all.

I don't know what's wrong with me.  I've had a harder time than usual getting around to writing this post.  I have sat down no fewer than a dozen times to start it, only to find an excuse to do something else.  Anything else.  Scrolling my Pinterest inspiration board for your birthday party?  Sounds like a reasonable thing to do.  Searching for my recipe for chicken chili?  Well, someday it might feel like fall around here and I might need it.  Organizing the printable files I've been hoarding?  Why not.  Anything not to have to start this post.  But it's time that I just face the facts: You are 11 months old.  

You turned 11 months on the darkest, cloudiest day we've had in a while.  Blurry pictures are to be expected.

Actually, you are 11 months and one week by now.  Why is this so hard for me to come to terms with?  Maybe because it is the last time that I have no choice but to relay your age in "months."  Maybe because the day you turned 11 months you also decided to take your first steps.  Maybe because you still are practically toothless (just tiny bottom ones peeking through) and hopelessly chubby and I just still feel like you are my baby.  Baby!  Not a toddler.  And probably, mostly because you are, without a doubt, the last baby of mine.  The last one to cross this month-to-year threshold.  I don't want to see this year come to an end.  

September Sunsets

Low tide is magical.

If I'm being honest about how quickly you are growing up, I'd have to admit that you are changing every day.  Your hair has grown and is halfway covering your ears.  This whole standing/walking thing that you are doing lately.  The way that you play with your toys and how much more deliberate, thoughtful and inquisitive you are with them.  But one of the biggest is in your comprehension.  I feel like I can have a conversation with you now.  I mean, I do it all of the time, regardless of whether or not you understand a word.  But now you respond to my questions with "Yeah!" or a headshake or "No no."  When I ask what you want to wear today, you thrust a pointing finger toward your bedroom.  If I ask you where something is that you recognize, you go get it.  Amazing!  You couldn't do any of this a month ago  (well, maybe the yes and no thing, but it is much more accurate these days).  

And about this crazy walking you are doing.  I find it funny that you have decided to stand on your own and walk all within about a week's time span.  You only try to take steps when I put you down with the intention of walking away.  Then you hightail it back to me and hold on tight.  Or if something you want is a step away from where you are already standing.  You are wobbly and inaccurate in your steps.  I don't think it's as much a case that you can walk as it's a case that you don't know that you can't.  You just plow forward, goal insight, and not much planning or practice behind it.  You do it a lot, so it's not a fluke.  I just wonder if it has any bigger meaning.  Will you be impulsive like me?  I hope you learn to plan and think things through a bit better than I do.  It frustrates me that I don't approach much with a plan.  Or that I plan like crazy, but when it's time for action, my plan goes out the window.  Yep.  That's me.  I hope for your sake that you find a balance in your impulsiveness.  Be spontaneous.  Follow your heart.  But also learn to save for a rainy day and that actions have consequences.  At least for now, the most I have to worry about is a bump on the head from your impulsive decisions.  But don't think I don't worry about the times that I won't be there to catch you, both literally and figuratively.  

You were a mess!

Before I get to deep, there really was a "birthday" point to this post.  So here is 
What Finnlee's Digging: 11 Months

• Plums.  You gobble them up.  I love them too and am happy to "share" one with you.  
• "Outside."  I just say the word and you are crawling to a window, face smooshed against the glass, pointing wildly at the great outdoors.  You love to venture out there and explore.  This will become much more fun once you are truly walking.
• Shoes.  But only other peoples' shoes.  And never on you!  You rip off your own shoes every time I try to put them on.  But if someone leaves their shoes within your reach, good luck getting them back.
• Dog-dogs.  In books.  On tv.  Walking down the sidewalk.  You point them out and say "dog-dog" in your whispery little voice.  So cute.
• Photo albums!  You found our stash of albums and flip through them over and over again.  I've hidden the ones you can damage, but there are still plenty for you to peruse.  
• And (finally!) baths!  Ever since I started letting you take baths in the big tub with Sydney, you love your bath time!  I'm so relieved about this.  Who knew you had something against small, pink tubs?

Playing with daddy.

It's been a crazy week around here.  Today, all three of you girls are sick.  Sydney and Kylee stayed home from school.  It feels a little like a clinic around here.  We have a roofer coming today to check on a leak.  Ashley's brand new iPhone was stolen over the weekend.  I can do without all of that kind of craziness.  But there's also a dining room table full of birthday party crafts and Halloween costume supplies.  I've been "making" and "crafting" for a few days now.  That kind of craziness is okay by me.  The countdown has begun.  You will be turning one whether I am ready or not.  And you are counting on me to pull off this party I've been talking about for a year now.  It's showtime!