eleven months old!

today, bebe is eleven months old. i can't believe that on the next 14th she'll be turning one! this year is flying by, with the months just going more and more quickly as the pace of her development also increases. every day now, she does something she's never done before -- and i am so, so grateful that i get to be there to see it all. in the past month, she has learned how to wave, to climb up stairs and to take steps. she has four teeth which she uses to eat an increasingly wide array of foods (though, of course, NO NUTS!!). she makes animal noises (fish, cow, donkey) and has an impressive vocabulary for an eleven month old: "cat," "dog," "bird," "ball," "truck," "mama," "dada," "cup," "more," and "that?" (said as she points at everything in sight: "what's that? what's that? what's that?"). watching her master all these new skills is a bit bittersweet for me: bitter, as i know that each one is a step in her life's journey of becoming her own person, separate and independent from me; sweet, as my heart swells to bursting with pride when i see how proud she is of herself.

yesterday, we went to a party for our friends kate and alden, who are getting married later this summer. the party was hosted by kate's mom and was held at her grandmother's house in western mass, in a big huge beautiful yard with lots of kids playing soccer and lots of babies toddling around. bebe found a lawnmower that was just the right size for her and she spent about half an hour pushing it back and forth, back and forth, with a big smile on her face as she motored around on her own two chubby legs. at one point, an older woman who had been watching her pass by turned to me and said, "look at that determination on her face! she's going to be something."

indeed.

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