Chasing Thirty Toes ... : Elliot

Elliot is now 11 (and a half) months old. I am officially in denial. My baby girls turned 4 last weekend. And Elliot will be 1 in two weeks. ONE!! When did that happen?

Elliot, at 11 months, you:

- weigh easily 26 pounds. There has been no official weigh in, but that is what my scale says. And I believe it.

- have 2 1/2 top teeth. That third one is almost through, and I think the fourth one will be close behind.

- are more vocal every day. Talking, humming, spitting, yelling, making indian noises with your hand over your mouth, etc. You find a way to get heard.

- crawl fast! Your speed has definitely increased. You make me chase you daily. Or hourly.

- are a superb eater. And by that I mean you eat everything! I really do not think I have a picky eater with you. You have loved eating more real foods, and we are about at half and half baby food and real food now. You devour every kind of fruit you have tried, especially watermelon and peaches. And you also love pasta, black eyed peas and green beans. And bread. And cheese. Everything. And you are a beggar!!

- still love your bath and swimming. And you try to dive face first into the water. You have succeeded in a face plant a few times and have come up coughing ... but smiling and ready to try it again. No fear of the water here.

- are obsessed with my phone. Seriously obsessed. And the remote. You will tackle anything in your way to grab it.

- love to wave. If you hear anyone within earshot say "bye," you start waving like crazy. It is so cute.

- steal cups. We often have sippy cups all around, and you will find every one of them and down whatever is in them. And you will try to steal cups (and food) right out of your brother or sisters' hands.

- are a dumper. Just like your older siblings. Nothing entertains you more than dumping out a laundry basket, knocking over a pile of folded towels, or pulling magazines off a table.

- climb stairs. Often and quickly. Once you discovered them, you are pretty obsessed and determined to get to them and up them all by yourself. If I am holding you and we walk toward the stairs, you try to dive out of my arms onto the stairs. And I let you. It is easier for me and calorie burning for you. Ha.

- are really a climber of everything, You try to climb into the bathtub by yourself and are trying to climb on the fireplace. An Annabel and James repeat.

- might be the most into everything baby I have had. Or maybe tied with Annabel.

- love getting in to your sisters' stuff. They beg me to keep you away or put you in your exersaucer so you won't "mess up" their picnic, tea party, dress up, etc. It is pretty funny actually. You just mow down and destroy whatever is in front of you.

- clap. I think that and waving are your favorite new tricks. We can say "yay," and you start clapping like crazy. And grinning from ear to ear. That's one of my favorite new things!

You have really started coming into your personality recently. You laugh outloud and have the best belly laugh. And you "get" things ... like that a phone goes by your ear, so you hold it up to your ear and talk. And that the remote turns the tv on so you point it at it. And that batteries go in (and out of) the remote so you do you best to take them in and out. I think my favorite thing has been to watch your sheer determination and strong will. It scares me a little (or a lot) because I know very well what that determination and strong will means. But it is also so cute to watch you set your mind to something and do anything it takes to get it. It makes me wonder what is going on in that little head of yours. I am pretty sure you are going to be a force to be reckoned with. You will have to be in this crazy household.

And from the photo above, you can tell that you just had a major haircut. Boo. It is much shorter than I intended. But your 11 month photo was actually taken 1 1/2 weeks late, so you still had your long hair in the rest of the pics below ... my favorites from the past month.