11 Months already?!!

I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I know, you're probably thinking "what a cliche parental statement. But you know how some things seem to take an ETERNITY? Like engagements, waiting to get through school, pregnancy. Obviously in retrospect, things zoom by, but babies growing up just happens way TOO fast.

As a preface to information about my 11 month old wonder, I have to mention that I have misplaced our camera and don't have new pictures right now, so at the end I included some pics of her Dear Cousins from November when we were trying to get pictures of them together for Stuart's parents' Christmas present. You'll understand when you see them why I say "try."

So, here are 11 interesting facts about Alana Brielle ma belle!

1. She is a people WATCHER!! We went to Chili's the other day and she spend 95% of the time watching other people. She laughs when they laugh, she points at them, and of course she is especially fascinated with babies!

2. She LOVES blueberries. If I've mentioned this before, I'm sorry. But repetition helps to emphasize a point. Stuart fed her some blueberries for breakfast the other morning and he said that he would have been stuffed by the amount of blueberries she ate. (by the way, Yay for Sunflower farmer's Market, they had a HUGE sale this week!)

3. This week she actually started picking up books on her own to read them for herself. It is too cute.

4. Sometimes with a lot of practice and me helping her, she'll put her own toys away. (Never mind that she dumps them right back out again!)

5. She likes to play with the shoes in our closet.

6. She likes to suck on Stuart's headphones.

7. Pens are like the absolute coolest toy ever, except of course for cell phones.

8. She's pretty tough. Our little friend Ian was trying to throw a mini-basketball to her last week. It ended up bouncing off her forehead and knocking her down, and Jenny and I rushed over worried she was hurt, but she didn't even mind. :)

9. She doesn't like to crawl anymore. At all. However, she is getting very adept at standing on her own from a sitting position. "spread legs, bend down, push torso off the ground!"

10. She thinks it's hillarious when I pretend to catch bugs with my hands.

11. She says "dadda" all the time, and usually when she's talking about her dad. Guess how often she says "mamma"? Never. Sometimes I hear sounds that sound pretty close to "Crystal," but no "mamma." Sigh