Abby turned 11 months a week ago.  I have discovered that as she gets more & more mobile, it gets a whole lot harder to do her photo shoots!  Hence, Christmas bows!  She loved playing with them both for pictures & when she saw them on presents under the tree.

Abby is very interested in looking at what’s going on around her.  She’s not too interested in standing or pulling herself up (except into my lap), but she now alternates between army crawling & crawling on her hands and knees.

Abby still loves food (as evidenced at Thanksgiving).  She loves all baby food fruits & orange veggies (but not carrots), but she’s not so sure about the meal ones; they’re okay for about four bites, & then she’s over it.  David discovered that they’re really bland, & maybe that’s what she didn’t like, so we were horrible parents & added a sprinkle of salt to her lasagna one night, & she gobbled it up!  We are also horrible parents & let her have cake & ice cream at my birthday earlier this month…& gingerbread cookies & spritz & candy cane pie at Christmas.  Even though she still has no teeth, she eats just about all of the regular breakfast & lunch food at school, along with crackers (saltines, cheez-its, graham, club, & goldfish), Cheerios & other cereal, & just about anything else you put in front of her.  We’re working on a sippy cup transition still; she likes to wave it around and suck on it, but she doesn’t really drink from it.  Maybe we’ll have to try another kind?

Abby is still a fantastic sleeper.  She goes to bed between 6:30 & 7 usually, & I get her up at 7 for school most mornings.  Otherwise, she’ll sleep until 7:30-8:30.  At school, she typically takes a couple 40-60 minute naps.  On weekends, she’ll be awake for about 1 1/2 hours in the morning, nap for 2-2 1/2 hours, be awake for lunch & playing (about another 1 1/2-2 hours), then take another 2 hour nap.  School is exhausting, so we need lots of rest on the weekends!  Either that, or Mommy & Daddy are really boring compared to all her friends at school.

For Abby’s actual 11 month birthday, I got a call from school telling me that she had a temp of 102 when she woke up from her nap, so I needed to come get her ASAP.  We were able to get her in to the doctor (an actual diagnosis of something not contagious would allow her to go back earlier than the 24 hours they want sick kiddos to stay home).  We got to find out her current weight…at 11 months exactly (probably even to the hour!), Abby weighed in at a whopping…

16 lbs., 6.8 oz.!

which puts her at the 2.6 percentile.  So even though she eats everything in sight, Baby still has the highest metabolism ever.  Or something.  Since her growth is staying along the same curve on the charts, our doctor’s fine with it.  (Especially since she eats well & still has chubby cheeks + one roll on each thigh!)

The doctor’s diagnosis for poor sick little Abby was a double ear infection!  So sad.    We got her prescription + a doctor’s note for baby acetaminophen & ibuprofen dosing for school, & she started feeling better right away.  David took the next day off work & stayed home with her anyway, just to give her some sleep & recovery time.  She adores her medicine.  It’s pink & fruity & sweet & she gets so excited when she sees it; she bounces up & down & grins!

The weekend before Christmas, we went to a Christmas concert at church with the whole Helfinstine family…here we are afterwards, before we ate dinner!

Moral of the story:  I suppose now I have to plan her birthday party for real.  With all the free time I have.

Stay tuned for:  Abby’s 1st Christmas!