11 Months

Happy 11 months to Ellen! Here are her developments:

1. Her first top tooth poked through just today.
2. While standing up, she'll let go of things and briefly stand on her own.
3. She still hasn't figured out how to go down the stairs, but she sure does love sitting right at the top. She waits for me to come get her and then crawls away, giggling, as fast as she can.
4. Ellen will eat just about anything-and in large quantities. It is actually quite impressive how much she can eat. The only thing she hasn't seemed to like is scrambled eggs. We gave her some Asian salad (with a vinegar/sesame seed oil dressing) that she loved-and her older sister wouldn't touch.
5. Ellen is becoming a Mama's girl. She still will go to other people, but I am definitely her favorite.
6. She loves her baths. She loves to splash in the water and doesn't seem to mind too much when she splashes her face.
7. She is becoming very vocal. She will often growl (I had two people at church last week tell me about her growling  at them), she'll "talk" to me quite a bit, and she has a funny, fake laugh that comes from deep in her throat.
8. Ellen is very active. She doesn't stay in one place for very long.
9. When we are at the grocery store, Ellen doesn't like to sit in the cart properly. I always buckle her in, but she always manages to turn around and face the direction we are headed. The other day, she discovered that she can stand up while in the cart. Gratefully, the strap kept her from getting all the way up.
10. She is a but dramatic. A few days ago I was helping Summer in the bathroom when Ellen fell off the bottom stair onto her back. I knew she was ok (I could see her and her cry wasn't a hurt cry), but she was upset. Summer needed my help more than she did, so I continued to help Summer. Ellen stayed in the same position she fell in (spread eagle, flat on her back) and cried for a little bit. She then stopped crying and proceeded to look for me to come get her. She stayed in the exact same position she fell in until I came and got her. Once I got her, she did her fair share of complaining, just to let me know about her fall. It was pretty funny.
11. Ellen also likes to head bonk me. She lean in towards me and will bonk her forhead against mine, and then she'll repeat it several times. Sometimes she gets way into it and I have to stop it because she does it so hard it hurts, but it is pretty cute.