Adriana Leigh is 11 Months (48 weeks) Old

I can't believe it!  We're only a month away from Adriana's first birthday.  I have party ideas, but I have yet to actually put any plans into motion.  I'm sure I'll get there soon...

The hair was going a little crazy that day!

As my summer with Adriana comes to a close, I'm amazed by how much she has grown and developed in the past 11 weeks.  Although I am sad to go back to work, and I know I will miss seeing her every day, I am so lucky to get such a large stretch of time at home with my baby girl.  When school ended last May, Adriana had just started to crawl, only had two teeth, was starting to stand without holding on (for about 5 seconds) and could only walk if she had help, mostly babbled, but sometimes said "dada," and was just trying out waving.

Now, at the end of the summer, she is less of a baby and more of a toddler.  She is walking.  She gets more and more steady every day.  She has six teeth, says "mama," "dada," "baby" (sometimes), "hi" (sometimes), and "night-night."  She also communicates in other ways.  She knows her Poppy and knows that he is connected to Grandma Coley.  She pants to let us know who Poppy is.  She loves flowers, and she will sniff when she wants to see some.  She also waves enthusiastically and is such a friendly little girl.  She loves to smile at her friends and meet new people.  She loves to clap her hands, whether it's because she's happy and she knows it, she's playing pat-a-cake, or just because she's excited.  She also loves dancing to music, and is starting to try to sing.  Right now it's more of an "aaaa-aaaa-aaaa" noise, but she's getting the idea.

According to the baby development app on my phone, Adriana is already doing everything that she should be doing by 11 months.  In addition, she has also reached all of these 12-month milestones:

• Takes one-two naps daily
• Bangs two cubes together
• Puts objects into containers and then takes them out
• Voluntarily lets objects go (she has to kiss them goodbye first, though)
• Has fun opening and closing cabinet doors
• Interested in books and identifies some things
• Understands some simple commands
• Pushes away what she doesn't want
• Pushes, pulls, and dumps items
• Pulls off socks
• Understands the use of certain objects
• Tests parental responses to behavior
• Identifies self in mirror

I'm so lucky that I have gotten to be around Adriana every day to see her learn how to do all of these things.