Eleven months is here! One more month to go before the big number 12. We've had a fun month this past month as she's become more mobile, vocal, and just all around more fun. One of my favorite things is that I really feel like she is communicating to us, not that crying didn't satisfy that need in months before, but now it's like I can say, "Avery, look the dogs!" And she'll reply, "Uhh? or Dog!" Other times I'll be silly with her and she'll just laugh and giggle, it's so much fun.
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| 11 months old |
Remember back to 4 months? Look at that little one.
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| 4 months old. |
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| Quite a change from this big girl. |
Documenting her monthly changes has been pretty crazy to see because as each day goes by, she seems the same. But come the monthly photo shoots all lined up next to each other and you really start to see the differences. I'm so glad I decided to take her monthly pictures, as I doubt I would have remembered just how much she has grown in the past 11 months. Babies sure are amazing.
Here's the stats for this month. Nothing crazy, height stayed the same, weight went up one pound.
Want to know where all that height is? These long legs like her Dad.
So now those 11 month pictures looked so happy and nice right? Well, as I've said in all my monthly photo shoots, there's always a "highlight of the shoot" and this month's was a meltdown. Oh yeah. We've officially reached the age of meltdowns. That girl knows how to stiffen her body, let out a good scream and let you know that whatever it is you are doing or trying to do to her is not going to happen.
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| "Wah!" |
So what does any good, photographing mother do? Break out some snacks as a peace offering....
Then things got a little better, until she realized that the sticker on her onesie COULD come off, so she proceeded to try and take it off. In all the 11 months, she's yet to do this. Too funny.
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| "Let me just take this thing off." |
So to come save the day, Grandma (aka my photo assistant) brought out Sock Monkey and the two played peek-a-boo as I snapped away.
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| A must-have from this month's photo shoot. |
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| "Ohh! Dog?" |
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Curious about those teeth of hers? Well there's 7 of them!
And it sure seems like some more are on their way. |
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| The photo shoot ended with smiles all around. |
As you'll see from the pics this month, she's been talking lots. Mainly "d-words" like: dog, dad, duck, do, etc. Mama and other sounds like g's and b's get in there from time to time, as well as happy screams, cranky yells, and lots of giggles. Here's some of her many expressions from a fun afternoon we had at her great-grandparent's house one day.
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| Sneaky girl. |
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| With her great-grandparents. |
Other random developments of the month:
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| Her hair has been growing a lot! |
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She always has the sweetest look on her face after waking
up from a nap....I would too probably! |
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Curtains are one of her new favorite
toys. |
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| And those eyes of hers can't quite get any more blue, can they? |
Aside from enjoying a week off together when my school had it's Spring Break, Avery and I have kept busy
with a party and a holiday this past month. First up was my sister-in-law,
Meghann's, Baby Shower.
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| Avery and I with the mama-to-be. |
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| It's going to be a girl! |
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| Avery hung out with her cousin Olivia. |
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| And she provided some rockin' party music. |
Later on in the month was a holiday I've never decorated before, but of course I did this year...it was St. Patrick's Day! What can I say, I'm weak at Hobby Lobby...weak I tell you! That place rocks. I didn't go too overboard, just a few little things.
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| Decorations from Hobby Lobby. |
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St. Pat's decoration from Kohl's, my
second favorite holiday decor store. |
We also attempted to get Avery into the "Irish spirit" with a leprechaun hat, let's see what she thought...
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| "Top of the mornin' to you!" |
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| One of the million times we attempted to put it on. |
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| Followed by the million times she took it off. |
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All better now that it's off. Sorry Avery, I'll try to stop
over-accessorizing you...well, maybe! ( : |
One last way I got into the St. Patrick's Day spirit, was to hang some free subway art I found online in what I'm calling my "Printables Frame". Basically I went out and got this simple, black, matted frame from
Target and as each holiday goes by, I fill it with some subway art or a free printable that I've found online.
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| My "printable frame" with St. Patrick's Day subway art. |
Here are a few of the subway art/printables I've collected so far. They are all 8 x 10, and I've printed them onto card stock paper.
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| Some of my printable collection. |
See one you like? Here's some links to them:
New Year'sValentine's DaySt. Patrick's DayBirthdayFall/ThanksgivingChristmasHalloween (seen in picture below)
Easter (you'll see it in next month's post)
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I just keep them in this folder and as the holidays change,
I just change out the printable...simple enough right? |
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This is such a fun, easy, and cheap way to decorate it...
maybe someday I'll make my own subway art? ( : |
Speaking of Pinterest crafts, here's mine for this month,
EAT letters for a wall in my kitchen. Clearly I must have some type of fascination with words on the wall, since 2 of the 3 "Pinterest crafts of the month" I've done revolve around words on the wall, with "love" in
January and now "eat" in March, but it's my style and I'm sticking to it! Anyone else like words on the wall?
My inspiration:
Okay well there were many inspiring things in that photo, but I really loved the word EAT on the wall, and I remember seeing those letters at Hobby Lobby.
This next picture from Pinterest gave some more inspiration....
Then after a trip to Hobby Lobby, I picked up my supplies and here's how I made it:
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Picked up the letters from Hobby Lobby for $15 total, they
were half-off at the time, sweet! |
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But since I didn't really want them to stay gold, I knew
it was time to paint. |
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I went "green" with my paint selection
and tried out this cool
Soy Paint. It worked great! |
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To paint the letters, I put some newspaper down on a table,
rose the letters up with some jar lid rings, and got to
work using a paint brush I borrowed from my crafty mom
(note the green paint on the brush, not from me). |
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| I did about 3 coats total on the letters to get them nice and black. |
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| Getting my "craft on" as I like to say. |
And here's the finished product:
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I put it on the wall that divides my kitchen/dining room
with our living room. |
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| See a little someone living up to the word on the wall? |
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| "Yeah, we like to EAT in this green house!" |
What's a monthly recap without my other resolution?
Date Night. We kept it low-key this month and just went out to eat at one of our favorite local restaurants,
La Fuente's. Although it was simple date, it was nice to have a little break and eat dinner without having to clean up Avery's messy high chair, or rush through our meal because she seems like she's "D-O-N-E!"
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| Best start to the meal...chips and salsa! |
Here's what I usually get at a Mexican restaurant: a side of beans (black or refried), side of rice, side of guacamole, and a side of 3 corn tortillas. With this I make my own "burritos" by scooping little of each on the corn tortilla shell and chowing down! Live and learn...now I know to make sure and say "no cheese" on the beans. You would think that wouldn't come with it, but it did here. Luckily I was able to move it to the side and keep it out of what I used.
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| My gluten-free, vegan dinner at La Fuente's. |
Our Little Walker: One of the most exciting things in the past month has been watching Avery learn to walk. She went from standing on her own
last month, to starting to walk this month. As of her 11 month birthday, she was able to take 5-6 steps on her own but then she'd usually fall to the ground. She walks around most furniture, coffee tables, and couches by holding on with one hand, and when SHE feels ready or excited enough she'll let go and take some steps.
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| "Here I come guys." |
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| On her way. |
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| Still a little wobbly, but getting stronger. |
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| Now on to cause some destruction! |
One funny thing about all this moving/walking/crawling is that when she's on any type of tile or hardwood floor, she does not like to crawl on her knees. Instead she takes on this "crab walk" form and trots right along. Kind of her compromise between crawling and walking, until she's gotten better at walking. Sometimes from this she'll move to her knees and then to standing, but the second she hits the carpet, she's up and trying to walk. It's pretty funny.
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| Crab-walkin' Avery. |
Here's a few fun shots to close out the post with...
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| Breakfast with Daddy, one of her favorite things. |
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| Food's gone? Time to make some music. |
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See you guys next month for the much anticipated
1st Birthday Party! |
Eleven months is here! One more month to go before the big number 12. We've had a fun month this past month as she's become more mobile, vocal, and just all around more fun. One of my favorite things is that I really feel like she is communicating to us, not that crying didn't satisfy that need in months before, but now it's like I can say, "Avery, look the dogs!" And she'll reply, "Uhh? or Dog!" Other times I'll be silly with her and she'll just laugh and giggle, it's so much fun. 
