Happy 11 Months!

Happy 11 months Mila!

11 Month Stats

Weight: she's thinning out!

Length: she definitely looks like she's getting taller!

Eating: you're taking 4 bottles a day now (one when you wake up and go to sleep, one when you wake up from each nap) and are eating three meals a day.  You love pancakes, watermelon, cantaloupe and pasta and hate blueberries.

Roscoe's no dummy...he knows where to go for food

on your belly trying to get a piece of Roscoe's food

Bedtime: we lay you down awake and you put yourself to sleep 98% of the time now and sleep through the night.  your bedtime is anywhere between 6:45pm and 7pm.

Awake: you are such an excited, happy baby and love crawling around the house.  you wake every day around 7am usually (the only times you EVER sleep until 9am is with your dad...so unfair!).

Naps: you're taking two naps a day, although in the last week you have been fighting your morning nap.   

Diapers: size 3s but our next pack will be a size 4 (but only in the Costco brand...so weird!)

Clothes: your wearing all 9mo and 9-12mo clothes right now and I think you will be in the 12mo sleepers in the next month.

Favorites: you prefer non-toys over toys and love to bang around on Tupperware. we need to get you some learning/playing toys to keep you occupied. you think all of your toys are baby toys now! You love books and they are definitely your go-to now.

Development: you're still not walking yet but are to the point where you will stay for 30 seconds to a minute at a time without holding onto anything; you're now even able to squat down to grab a toy and the stand back up.  You love your walker toy and cruising around the couch but have yet to take two steps without holding on.

You had three of your top teeth cut through this month so you now have 6 total.  You're so helpful when dressing now and know when to pick up your legs to take your pants off and push your arms through the holes of your shirts.  You're making all kinds of noises ("durka durka" being your favorite) and squealing all the time.

Dear Mila,

Mommy and Daddy had our first vacation without you this month; we had a "staycation" in Huntington Beach with our best friends, Aimee and Matt, and did all the things that we can no longer do since we have kids now (staying up late, sleeping in, eating out past 6pm, etc!).  You spent the weekend with Nana and Papa and came back jabbering more than usual!

happy to be home with our little family

You are getting more and more independent every day and we often find you playing by yourself in your room (usually looking at your books).

guess who had to clean up this mess??

You are quite the little monkey and love crawling on anything and everything...including Roscoe!

We are so excited that daddy switched his work schedule to Thurs/Fri/Sat days starting next week; now we will have a more normal schedule and all day Sunday to ourselves (just in time for Raider football!).  I can't believe I am in the middle of planning a 1st birthday party for you and that we have only one more month until you are a young toddler! Love you little doll!

Love,
Mommy

first bow in your hair!

crawling through the sprinkler

into Roscoe's toys again

proud mama showing off her baby

swinging with Kira

Baby Steps through Pretend City

Today I took off work to spend the day with my family.  We went to Baby Steps through Pretend City; it was another one of Mila's milestones in that it was her first "activity."  Pretend City is a great exhibit at the Children's Museum in Irvine.  It's exactly what you might think of in that there are different areas for kid's to explore, including a post office, fire station, restaurant, library, farm, theater and much more.  Once a month on a Monday the exhibit closes from 2pm-3:30pm and is only open for babies ages 0-18mo.

I was so excited when I first heard about this because I remember going to something similar in Kansas when I was a little kid (not Mila little, but still) and what kid doesn't like going shopping in a pretend grocery store pretending to be an adult!  I was equally excited since Mila is very mobile now and crawling all over the place (although it will be super fun to take her back when she is walking).

Mila had the time of her life and was literally squealing with delight as she led the way and crawled from exhibit to exhibit.

We started out in the water area where there was a big, bendy metal tub with water being pushed through by a current.  The kids could pick different items (boat, fish, lobster, etc) and drop them in the water and watch them be pushed along.  There were also rain jackets and rain boots in this area for the older kids to put on to keep dry.

this was a large "mushroom" water fountain that Mila loved putting her hands and feet into!

Next was the fire station, where Mila got a picture in the fire truck (because there was no police car in the police section).  This section had fire hats, coats and hoses for the kids to play with as well.

Between the fire and police stations was a dispatch center where kids could sit and there were real (?) 911 calls that the kids could push the button. The one we selected was a little boy calling 911 because his brother's bottom was stuck in the toilet!

Next was the police station where, in place of a car, they had a tv screen with vignettes of Irvine police officers (the car would've been more impressive!).  There were also police uniforms, radios, books and badges for the kids to play with.

Mila's favorite area was a giant room with all kinds of "plush" items in it that you might find in a kid's gym. The kids had free reign of the room and could crawl on, play with, slide down and kick anything they wanted to.  This is also the only area that we visited twice!

There was also a full on house with a living room, kitchen, bathroom (Mila tried to climb in the bathtub!), kitchen and two bedrooms.

This is the farm area where the kids could sit in plastic woodchips and play with different gardening utensils and fruits and vegetables.

In the farm area the kids could also "pick" oranges, strawberries and lemons from the trees.

Other places that we visited but didn't get on camera include: arts & craft center (where Mila created a hand and footprint), post office, doctor's office, dentist office, restaurant, beach, construction site, theater, construction office and the grocery store, as well as other areas with tunnels to crawl through and little rolling things to drag behind you (if she was walking).

I can't wait to bring Mila back when she's older. I can see us visiting this place many times in the future!