11 month update...a little late

Darci's been 11 months for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't put an update yet with her latest skills! She is still not quite walking, but seems just about to take off. She will walk if you hold her hands, and she is able to stand on her own for about a minute. We're seeing her standing more often now without always having to hold on. So far she has only taken a few independent steps at our urging. We've both been helping her practice by standing her a few steps away from us and beckoning.

She understands more now when we talk to her or ask her things, although still that's not much. The only sound she uses consistently for the same thing is her "kitty" sound, which is basically just a "k" sound. She always makes that sound when she sees either of the cats, and she gets very excited and wants to chase them. She can help a little when you are dressing her, by holding her arms out and such, which also means she can work against you when you are dressing her, although she is pretty compliant and usually puts up with quite a bit when changing her clothes. She will hand you objects, but only when you gesture for them, she doesn't seem to understand their names yet.

She is still very interested in music and loves to hear any kind of music. She will stop whatever she's doing to look and listen, and she sings to herself quite a bit. We can hear her in her crib in the morning just singing and talking.

She has been sleeping through the night consistently for a few weeks now (crossing fingers...). She goes to bed between 6 and 7 every night and wakes sometime after 6. If we aren't ready to get her yet she will play happily with her tiny dolly and other little stuffed toys in her crib unless she needs changed or gets hungry.

Darci is still a very good eater and will eat just about anything you offer her. We've been introducing new flavors over the last month. She is voracious and always wants to be snacking, especially if she sees either of us with food, so we feed her bites of anything we're eating that is good for her. We are transitioning her from formula to cow's milk over the next few weeks, and to help get more dairy into her I tried cottage cheese at her lunch this past weekend. The first few bites went down fine, but then she decided she didn't care for it, and pushed each bite back out of her mouth with her tongue, refusing any more attempts at cottage cheese. It was really funny. I've read that you should try a new food up to 10 times before they will accept it, so we'll keep going with the cottage cheese, maybe with a little more fruit-to-cheese ratio.

She is still wearing size 12-month clothes, and although we can tell she is getting taller, she has slowed down a little on her growth. She has a few 12-month outfits that still aren't quite the right fit. The pants tend to be made for walkers rather than crawlers, and the same is true for dresses or long tops, she gets them caught under her knees as she tries to crawl around. Anyone thinking of new outfits for Darci should look at 18-month sizes, in summertime styles. :-) She could use more onesies and socks are always good! She takes them off wherever she likes, so we usually have some sock orphans in the drawer.

Darci is a very happy kid and very easygoing. She is always good in social situations and loves new experiences. We can't wait to celebrate her first birthday in a couple of weeks. It's hard to imagine life without her now.