11 Months Old

How is this sweet face so close to a year old, already? I blinked.

Aspen is still not walking much, but so capable! We are kind of waiting for her to take off running, any second. She is cutting two top teeth, eating all sorts of meat with gusto, and signing more proficiently. (Not just waving a hand for every word she recognizes. See "baby" below.)



She's also signing "milk," "dog," "cat," "more," "all done," waving bye-bye, and reaching her arms up to get a pick-up. (Also to sign "so big!") She can identify eyes, noses, and mouths, and loves to point them out on people, thanks to her favorite book. She also likes to say "Mmmmm!" for "mooooo" when she sees a picture of a cow.

Aspen is wearing sizes 6-9 months, and even some 9 months clothes. She loves to be held, she loves to walk holding on to someone's hand, especially sister's, and she loves pulling things off the shelves, be they books, pans, toys, or clothes.

Currently, she still takes two naps a day, going down around 9:00 for about an hour and a half, then again at 3:00 for only half an hour or 40 minutes. Then she goes down pretty easily for the night around 8:00, often a little before, and makes it until somewhere between 5:30AM and 6:30AM, as long as she doesn't cough herself awake, which happens a couple nights a week. We are SO OVER this cough!

Aspen LOVES pictures, in a way I don't really remember Sabine doing. Aspen can point out immediate family, but favors herself and Sabine. If she's ever upset, going around looking at pictures in frames is always a good way to calm down. She still refuses to take a bottle, so starting the weaning process next month may be interesting.

Sabine is growing, too, another blink and I think she is going to officially be touring with a band.



She continues to be a bit of a fashion maven, I love her style, even if I don't think most of it is intentional. She is even foregoing dresses once in a while, usually in favor of leggings, which is a big shift.





Sabine is currently enrolled in gymnastics, swimming, yoga, and ice skating, on top of preschool and farm. She is very busy, but really seems to enjoy the stimulation. She's getting better at cartwheels, gets herself dressed in the morning (often with no supervision), and likes to play fairies and ninjas at school. She's really helpful, she often helps with dinner, when she's not playing alone with some of her Polly Pocket-type dolls. She can still sit at the dining room table and play uninterrupted by little sister. That won't last forever, but she's taking advantage of it while she can. She can also now swim the long way across the pool by herself. It's been a good phase, she's eating and sleeping well, and enjoying being a leader at preschool, as her teacher calls her.

But she still spends some quality time at home with us, and is still wonderful with Aspen. Aspen laughs with Sabine in a way that I haven't really heard with anyone else. They are good buds, most of the time.

Speaking of activities, Aspen went to her first music class last Friday. It went really well, she really seemed to like the music, the teacher, the other kids, and the fun instruments to play with. She rocked out, happily making noise with her "rumble sticks" and was reluctant to give them back at the end of class.

Sabine recently drew a family portrait, which I just had to share.


(That's Aspen front bottom, with her "poof" of hair, in her walker--hence the circle around the middle with the two giraffes to hold on to, mommy is on the left, with long hair, Sabine is on the right with a hair clip, daddy is in the back, with a cat on either side. The cats are in crates, because we are out at the park.)

It's exciting to see what each new month brings!