T minus one month

"reading" her 11 months sign

That means she's 11 months old! I cannot believe our baby girl is less than a month from being a whole one year old. She is an absolute blast. We are crazy about her. I love being her mama. And I love watching Adam being her papa. We are incredibly thankful for her...her joy and the delight she brings to our lives. We are definitely having fun with her. She trips me out. One of my favorite things she does that I can't capture on film is she'll raise her eyebrows and say "oh!" It's pretty darn cute. Here are some highlights

this is the closest I could get of the "OH!"

- She is constantly flipping the bird. Maybe this shouldn't be a highlight, but it's pretty funny. She points with it, touches with it and seems to always have it in the air. Don't take it personal.


- We visited an Apple Orchard for the first time. It was so much fun. We weren't really sure what Charis would think of it, but she seemed to love it. She sat in the wagon as we walked around the orchard and gummed lots of apples on our tour. We loved being out in the country and she loved crawling around their barn. Adam was feeling so country that he even gave Charis her first boiled peanut. She seemed to like it and had no reaction.


- She is still eating amazingly. I'm always impressed with what she eats...anything. Recently she's had homemade chili and sauteed spinach. Once she gets some teeth I'm sure she'll be able to eat even more. So, yeah, still no teeth.

ate some yummy watermelon ice

- Charis loves to dance. Whether it's a commercial jingle or the radio, she shakes her hips. Well, let's say it's a whole body thing, but it's so stinkin' cute.

- She waves bye-bye and all done. It's the same motion, but she does it at all appropriate times. When she's done with her bottle, when we are leaving daycare, when she's finished eating, when we say "bye bye" or "all done." It's pretty cute. (okay, so anything she does is pretty cute)

you can see the blur of her hand going "all done"

- She makes all sorts of sounds and noises and I'd like to think it's "mama" and "dada" but I'm not really sure what she's saying.

- We got a great visit from my friend, Laura. She came all the way from Cali to spend a week with us and Charis loved her.


- She's not walking and I'm hoping she'll be a late walker. She walks around the coffee table and other furniture. I'm not sure our house will ever be baby proof.


- She's discovered the kitchen cabinets. I finally got a safety thing for the dangerous one. But today she found some fun things to play with in the other one.

I can't believe my next Charis post will be for her ONE year. We, well let's say a really great friend more than me, have a great shindig planned for celebrating her one year. It is going to be such a gift in the midst of what is going on...I'll probably have surgery the week after. I'm thankful for my friend throwing the party for us.
I feel like a broken record but Charis is truly a joy. She is super easy. I mean, she has her cranky days. But, overall, she is one amazing little lady. I love watching her explore and discover her world. Every new thing she does is so fascinating.

"I can't believe I'm going to be ONE!"