ELEVEN.

Hold onto your hats. This girl is about to be ONE YEAR OLD. Until then, this sweet ELEVEN month old is going to capture your hearts and make you smile. She's finishing up a nap right now, and then we will do our little monthly photo shoot before heading out to pick up two prescriptions for her. Yep, for the third time in her life, she needs some medication. Sweet Pea has a yeast infection and thrush. Thankfully it's not bad at all. I thought it was a diaper rash that wasn't going away, and because Reese has never had a diaper rash, I called the doc to ask for some suggestions. I tried them, and nothing happened. All that to say, we just have one thing added to our day today--running by to get two little applications . This is no biggie, but I was thinking earlier how I want to record this kind of stuff for future reference. I need to get out her baby book that I adore and catch up...I may add that to my afternoon to-do list now that birthday party invites are out and dinner is done for the next few weeks!

I've had several emotional spells lately thinking about my girl. I just love her so much it's crazy.

Onto her stats for the month:

*Because of her appointment this morning, I actually have up to date accurate stats. RRW is weighing in at 20 lbs 0.5 oz.

*Her height and head circumference were taken as well, but that info sheet is in the car, and I'm really comfy on the couch right now. I think she may be somewhere around 28 3/4 inches tall if I remember correctly.

*Sweet girl wears 12 month (or 6-12) clothes. She's pretty much right on target. We bought her an 18 month Patagonia fleece in San Fran, and it's big, but I think I will go ahead and start buying that size for anything fall/winter-ish.

*Typical schedule: Wake/nurse at 7:15ish, breakfast (YoToddler yogurt or baby food fruit and rice cereal) at 7:45, play, nap from 9-10:30/11, gym at 11 or noon depending on the day, lunch at noonish (turkey, cheese, and bread plus some baby food if needed), nurse at 1, nap from 1-3ish, play, independent play time or run errands, play some more, dinner at 6 (whatever we are eating or baby food or whatever else I come up with that day), calm play (haha), bath at 6:45, play a little longer if necessary, nurse at 7ish or a little after, and off to bed!

*Nursing 3 times a day is pretty awesome.

*We usually read a story before naps and bedtime.

*RRW still loves baby food, so I'm trying to find a good balance. Sometimes I feed her baby food just because I think she needs to eat more after she's finished with what she wants of table food, but I think that's just me being paranoid that she's not getting enough. Today for lunch I just let her eat some low fat baked penne with spinach (one of my freezer meals), and that's all she had. Baby food is still an easy, quick solution for getting fruits and veggies in if I don't have fresh ones available when she eats or if I don't have the organic produce I want her to have in the house. I read the dirty dozen list a while back, so I've been trying to buy only organic apples and a few other things, but I just don't get to one of the TWO natural food stores in the entire area often enough. We need a Whole Foods. Anyone???

*Vacation was so great for Reese. She napped for 4-5+ hours a day for almost a week when we got home, and she's still rockin' with naps this week. I do think she is wearing herself out more these days though.

*Speaking of wearing herself out, she is crawling FAST everywhere and pulling up on everything. No signs of walking yet. If she's standing up and decides she wants to go even three feet down on the couch, she sits and crawls and then stands back up. She has stood on her own for a few seconds a few times.

*Reese likes to talk. She has lots of noises and sounds in her repertoire but no real words other than mama and dada. And I'm not sure we can consider those to be "real"words yet. We like to think she knows what she's saying.

*I also like to think that she's begun signing "more" a few times here and there while in her high chair. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but it's something. She smiles and throws her hands and arms up over her head sometimes, and it's so cute. I just wish I knew what she was saying by that.

*She falls asleep at places other than home without as much of a fight as she used to--for the most part. And at home, she just knows to go to sleep. It's cute, and I LOVE watching her on the monitor.

*RRW has had a few sips of organic whole milk, and I think she will semi-quickly grow to love it. We are trying to get her used to it before I leave her over Labor Day for a retreat...that's all she will get that weekend unless I can figure out how to pump more than 1/2 an ounce at a time. So, my plan is to offer her a cup at one meal time every day until then. If I weren't going away before she turns one, I would just wait to introduce it until then, but this retreat is throwing a kink in the plans. I'll resume nursing after the retreat and continue the weaning process more quickly once September 18th comes.

*Reese Peese loves to crawl all over me, play "Where's Reese?" with me, and dance with me. These are some of my favorite moments of the day. That infectious smile and the "absolute best sound in the world" laugh are just too much.

Enjoy some pictures from this morning's session. We have scheduled the one year photo shoot with a REAL photographer, and I can't wait.

My big 11 month old.

Still got the same look as she always has, but she's way more than doubled her weight and added about 8 inches in length. That head has grown, too.

RRW still has grayish-blue eyes, and I'm just wondering if they will turn brown in the next few months. They look a lot darker in this picture than they really are...I "enhanced" the photo on iPhoto, and they went dark.

Reese's "playroom"

I said hold onto your hats, and I meant it. I know you are all smiling right now.

Reese and her buddy, Emmett. She loves playing with his tags.