Letter Month Eleven

Dear Sarah Graves,
This has been a huge month for you.  You have celebrated holidays and learned to walk.  You have also been picking up on how to sign (well, at least you have one sign down). 

Perfecting walking has definitely been your focus this month.  You started taking your first steps just before you turned 10 months old and the past few weeks have been about perfecting that.  You quickly learned to stand up on your own and you are pretty fast on your feet now.  You like to hold something while you walk and you leave things all over the house now.  You are so cute when you fall over and just bounce right back.  Your nickname has been pinball (given to you by Pops, of course) because you can start to stumble and bounce off of things before you fall down.  You are undaunted by falling down and rarely cry about it.  You are so persistent and I like to take some credit for that piece of you. 

You learning to walk has created some new challenges for Daddy and me.  You have discovered how fun it is to walk around the kitchen and really enjoy pulling things out of the cabinets.  You are also now able to wander off from us and have found the joy of things like pulling toilet paper off the roll.  When we call your name and ask you to come to us, you turn around, look at us, and begin giggling as you walk away.  It is adorable now, but I don't know that it will be later...

We celebrated your first Thanksgiving at the beach with Lovie, Pops, Aunt Nay, and her friend, David.  I think you really enjoyed how laid back it was and loved the feel of the wind in your hair.  You began to master walking while we were there and amazed us when you went across the room all on your own. 

We went on an exciting adventure on the plane to visit all of Daddy's family in Shreveport.  We spent several days visiting with friends, great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  You were a real rockstar and you were so sweet.  You were happy to see everyone, let them hold you, and performed most of your tricks.  This was the first time you received Christmas presents and while you didn't understand unwrapping, you caught on to how fun new toys are.  You charmed them all and they hated to let you go. 

You are an awesome eater.  You eat solids very well now and are becoming very interested in table food.  I knew that you really are my daughter when I fed you some rice and gravy and your eyebrows went up, you said mmmm, and made the sign for more!  You have also enjoyed mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, twice baked potatoes, and some hush puppy off of my plate.  We were happy when we realized that we can go out for breakfast and order you a scrambled egg off the menu.  I had thought that maybe you were going to wean from your daytime nursing sessions, but you learned to walk and have been more interested in nursing than ever.  I enjoy that quiet, sleepy time with you.   

I can't tell you how absolutely wonderful I think you are.  I know, you think that I only feel that way because I'm your mother, but it's not just me.  Complete strangers compliment you and want to talk to you.  I know you are wonderful because you giggle when I tickle your toes, you give kisses so sweetly, you like to be held to read books, and you are bright and inquisitive.  I know that other people have babies who grow to be children and adults, but you aren't going to do that to me.  You are going to stay cute, squishy, and so sweet forever!  Right?  You're not really going to grow up on me, are you?  I'm much too attached for that to happen. 
Love,
Momma