Elle's eleven-month stats

No well-baby appointment this month, although we were at the pediatrician's office on Monday to have Elle's head measured because my baybee's head is hugenormous. Elle's head grew one centimeter, but that keeps her on the growth charts, so the doctor isn't worried about it. We'll go back in about five weeks for Elle's one-year (!) appointment, but there's no immediate concern that her head will have a huge growth spurt between now and then.

Too busy for block photos.

"Mom, you do realize I'm almost ONE YEAR old, right?"

Latest weight estimate: 21.5 pounds

Head: 47 cm

Current developments include pulling up to standing, talking (Mama, Dada, Baby, No, Hi, Bye bye, Kee kee (kitty), eye), blowing kisses, lots of waving hi and bye, signing (milk, eat, more), pushing up on all fours, rockin' three teeth and dealing with a fourth's pending arrival, growing almost enough hair that I might be able to actually give her a little Pebbles Flintstone-like ponytail sometime in a month or two.

In this video, Elle is plain silly and also signs "eat":

This child is a lot more go-go-go and yap-yap-yap than before, which makes church, restaurants, etc. a bit more fun ... and a bit more challenging. She needs her time to roam each day, or you'll hear about it. She chases after the cats, after Tim and I, etc. - up and down the hallway, across each room, in to and out of every doorway. I'm exhausted just watching her. We're traveling this month, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for having an almost-toddler on the plane and having her explore new spaces. We're fortunate in that she's a pretty flexible baby and adapts well to new situations and slight disruptions in schedule, and I've flown with her three times now, so I've got a decent idea of what to expect when traveling with (FOR ANOTHER MONTH SHE'S STILL) an infant.

She's quite an imitator, too - if I'm on the phone, she chatters along. If I say hi, she says hi. When I say "no" to the kitties, she starts a string of "no, no." A lot of the time, when I pick up the phone to make a call, she says "Dada." Or if I mention "Dada" and he's not home, she looks toward the door, expecting him to walk in any minute.

Current loves include travel-sized toiletries in the bathroom, flinging clothes every where, playing with junk mail, pulling up on everything, chasing down the cats, scaring the crap out of me, exploring every inch of the kitchen, "reading" to herself, trying to fling herself off the changing table, exploring the fridge.

Current nicknames include ... well, the most frequent ones now are Elle Belle, Belle Belle, Ellie Bean, Baby Boo, Boo Boo, Mimi and Baby Bear. 

Current habits include nursing/taking a bottle four times a day (she usually reverse cycles so that she nurses three times between waking and when I leave for work, then has one bottle several hours later, before bed), sleeping 11-13 hours a night, napping two times a day for a total of 1.5-3 hours, eating solids three times a day with an occasional snack.