Mae at 11 months

Crawling on her right fist; Mae's typical method

Meredith decided to celebrate her 11-month birthday with a big milestone: she took her first step on Monday! She was cruising along the couch with one hand on it and Dave suddenly noticed that she was walking. It was only a step or two and she didn't seem to notice... and she hasn't done it again all week, but we are still excited.

She continues to be a delightful baby; even when she's crying she'll pause to point at something and ask "Da?". She's become more reliable at pointing to things we ask her: Daddy, Mommy, Adi, pictures, the pillow,... And she's picked up the sign for milk, although I feel bad because we feed them on a schedule, so I don't necessarily respond to her demands. She is quite impatient when it comes time for milk, often crying in frustration on the nursing pillow while she waits for me to get Adi set up and ready. From the beginning she has been a vigorous breast-feeder-- I call her my piranha because of the expression she makes, like she's afraid it will be taken away from her-- and now she likes to hang out for a while, too. I wonder if it is her way of getting the cuddling she needs, since she doesn't really ask to be held at other times.

She also has been going through a difficult time going to sleep, sometimes wanting one of us to rub her back or sit by the crib until she finally drifts off. Her naps have been short ever since we were on vacation two weeks ago, and I'm hoping it is just a phase. I'm not ready for her to go to one nap a day, and even though she is generally happy, she does break down in the evenings more than she used to. But her nighttime sleep is generally long and uninterrupted.

Her infinite capacity for strangers (or rather, capacity for infinite strangers) seems to have been reached. When we were on vacation for a wedding in Dave's family, she broke down several times when someone was holding her and wasn't calmed until Dave or I took her back. Being tired and out of her element probably didn't help but it was drastically different from 2 months ago, with the same group of people, when she seemed to thrive off of the many people and new situations. She has also become more affectionate in that time period, often laying her head against someone (now including Adi) to cuddle.

During meal time, she might have a tray full of food but be signing for 'more', which means that she wants something else (usually cheerios). She gobbles up tofu but turns her nose up at pinto beans. She is eating anything now except for nuts and I'm so glad she doesn't seem to have allergies- I was worried because of her sensitive skin and possible rash reaction to oatmeal early on. Generally she eats well but the last few days she's been quite inconsistent in what she turns her nose up at. And I've been battling her about her bib: she likes to pull it off. I hope she's just doing it when she's full; I know babies are supposed to be inconsistent in how much they eat from meal to meal... and there is really no chance she's going to starve anytime soon, but I still have a hard time ending the meal if she hasn't had very much.

Mae likes physical play a lot: being swung up high by Dave, spinning around fast while dancing, "flying" especially toward Adi; and lately she's gotten a kick out of me rolling her over and over on the floor. She likes it when stuffed animals "kiss" her. When playing with toys, she seems to have a strong preference for having two of the same toy, one in each hand. Maybe it is a sense of symmetry? We were given two small blankets that she does some sort of routine with- holding one up in each hand, putting both down on one side of her, turning over them, then doing it again. And she just recently started to nest a few bowls that we have, always putting them together.

On vacation, Grandma Coleman taught her to blow kisses. When eating she had started placing her fingers flat against her mouth and now she'll say "mmm" and move her hand away to throw the kiss. It is very endearing. She can also 'click' her tongue... and last week I taught her how to whisper, which was so much fun. You don't see 'whispering' on the milestone charts but I was quite impressed! She's also understanding lots of words- when I described something yesterday as a 'hair band' she reached back to touch her hair. She'll try to put a hat on her head and I've even seen her pushing a shoe against her foot, like she knows where it goes.

Playing with her stuffed animal (while camping)
Examining the stem of a squash. I didn't *think* it was edible...