Dear Savannah,

Today you are 11 months old. I can’t believe you are almost a year old! I know I say this every month, but you are getting so grown-up!

I forgot to mention this in last month’s letter, but you have two teeth now! They came in with nary a fuss. It makes sticking my fingers in your mouth a little more painful, though! But your teeth help you enjoy lots of tasty things. You don’t care for the pureed foods, so I have been giving you soft fruits, vegetables, and other snacky foods. You love bananas and also avocados. You also enjoy goldfish and cheerios. I gave you yogurt the other day, and you immediately spit it out. Your favorite, though, is Mommy’s milk.

You continue to reach really far for your toys, but you haven’t started crawling yet. You still absolutely hate your tummy, so you don’t spend much time there. You are content to just sit happily and play with whatever is around you. The doctor wants us to take you to physical therapy, and I’m not sure yet if we will. I want to let you grow and develop in your own time, but I also know a little encouragement might be good for you!

This month you had not one, but two emergency room visits. :-( The first one was really scary – I am SO glad you’re okay! You screamed for so long, while they were taking x-rays and doing the procedure. It was heartbreaking to see you all alone on the little bed with wires attached. The second was less scary, but still a long night. I am so glad you’re okay and healing nicely! I want you around for a long time!

One thing I’ve noticed recently is how much you love to dance! You like dancing in church when we sing, and you also dance whenever you hear music – even if it’s just a theme song for a tv show! It’s so cute, and you have me dancing too. You will also pick up your rattling toys and bounce them along with the beat. You continue to be a happy and smiley baby. You have created a fake laugh that cracks me up.

You had your first visit to the zoo this month. We got an annual pass, and so far we’ve been twice. You seem to enjoy looking at the animals. You also had your first 4th of July! We went downtown to watch the fireworks, but it was so crowded that we ended up going up to your Daddy’s office in CNN. We watched the fireworks from there. You really liked them! You got really excited, and weren’t scared at all.

You’ve grown out of the cosleeper so you have been sleeping all the time in your crib! You still wake up during the night, and often come into bed with Mommy, which you like. I miss seeing you asleep next to me! I know this is the necessary part of seeing little babies grow up, though. As much as I miss those days when you were so tiny, I am also enjoying you interacting with us and learning about the world around you. You’re becoming more and more a little girl, and I can’t believe this is my last month with you before you’re a year old!

Love, Mommy

Dear Savannah,

Today you are 8 months old. I am having a lot of trouble admitting that you’re already that old! You’re just growing so fast, and in no time at all you are going to be a little girl running around.

This month had a lot of firsts for you. You got your first passport stamps! We flew down to the Dominican Republic for 11 days and visited some friends, including a little boy who is two days younger than you. You did great on the trip, which is good because you come from a family who loves to travel. You also had your first trip to the beach, which happened to be on a tropical island in the Caribbean, so I’m not sure how we’re going to top that in the future. However, you didn’t really enjoy the ocean – I think the waves scared you. You did like sitting in the sand and trying to eat it, though! You had your first hike, being carried by your Mommy in the Ergo carrier. You also played in a river and a swimming pool, and you had a great time in both – you didn’t seem to notice the cold water at all! This month marked your first Easter. You wore a pink dress and looked SO pretty!

While we were down in the Dominican Republic, your skin just tanned in the sun despite all the sunscreen I put on you! I guess you have your daddy’s skin after all, even though it has been the same color as mine until now. I am jealous! I got a bad sunburn, but your cheeks just got a little pink. You also got to ride around almost the whole time in our laps. There wasn’t enough room in the car for your carseat, nor were there seatbelts. I think you enjoyed being held – I know I enjoyed holding you! You took all the changes of being overseas quite well, and you also did well with your whole schedule being off (including naptime).

It was really fun to see you with Timmy. You picked up some things from him, like repeating syllables over and over when you “talk”. Now you have long strings of “ba-ba-ba-ba-ba” and “ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” – it’s really cute. You got really excited every time you saw Timmy – I guess you recognized that he was a baby just like you!

Timmy also helped you see that tummy time isn’t the worst thing in the world, and we’ve been able to get you to stay on your tummy for a little while! You still don’t love it, but at least you’re starting to work on your upper arm strength. You also rolled over! I knew you could do it. You have started moving a lot more, but you’re still not covering great distances. You will stand with straightened legs when I hold you up on my lap. You look so big when you do that! Your sitting up has greatly improved – you almost never flop over now, and you can pull yourself up from a 45 degree angle. You are also learning to wave! You’re not quite there yet, but we’re working on it!

Your hair is starting to get really thick, and I’m having to keep a clippy in it all the time to keep it off your face. Your bangs are starting to hang over your eyes! I may have to cut them soon; I haven’t decided if I want to just let them grow or cut them.

I took you to the doctor at the beginning of the month and you weighed 16lbs 4oz and were slightly over 26 inches tall (I think). This puts you in the 50th percentile for other kids your age, which is good in my book.

We’ve hit the separation anxiety stage. Most of the time, you will refuse to let anyone hold you but me. The past week or so you’ve gotten a bit better and will let Daddy hold you, which is good because as much as I love you it’s nice to have a break. :-)

You are starting to eat some solid foods like Goldfish crackers and Cheerios now! It took a little while for you to figure out how to eat them, though. You didn’t seem to understand that you had to let go of the food once it was in your mouth. However, now you are doing really well at eating them. It’s funny – every time you take the first bite of something I am feeding you, you make a face. I wonder what you are thinking! You seem to prefer salty things to sweet things. I have been giving you green beans a lot, which you like, and pears. You love crackers and watch me hungrily every time I eat one. You also really enjoyed the avocado I gave you. I had to put you straight into the bathtub after that meal!

I look forward to the next few months because it is going to be summer soon! I love summer, and look forward to sharing it and all the things that come with summer with you.

Love, Mommy

Dear Savannah,

Today you are 7 months old. This past month you have grown so much, definitely leaving “newborn” behind and entering babyhood! I can’t believe how alert and interactive you are now.

You love to hold onto things. If we offer anything to you, you will take it and probably put it in your mouth. You like to turn it around with your hands and investigate it. Also, if you see an object out of reach, you will try with all your might to get it. We now have to be careful with what is withing grasping distance. No more having you sit on our laps while we eat! You will try to grab EVERYTHING and ANYTHING you can. :-)

You are very interactive, too! You respond to your name now which is fun. You also recognize people – when Daddy walks in the door after he’s done with work you get SO excited! It’s really cute to see you light up. You are a little shy with new people but warm up quickly. We have discovered that we can make you laugh by tickling your tummy – it’s so cute! You also recognize Mommy and sometimes don’t want to be held by someone else if you can see Mommy. Yesterday we put you in the church nursery and you cried and cried so much that I had to come get you. :-( Poor Savannah!

You not only recognize people, but also animals. You LOVE the kitties! You get really excited every time one of them walks by. Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. After a few times of you grabbing their fur, Lewis and Ebony keep their distance.

This month we have been doing a Mommy & Baby water aerobics class. You really like the water! You kick your feet and splash. I’ve dunked you under the water a few times which startles you, but then you’re okay. I’m excited for many more swimming times in the future! You went for a brief period hating your bathtime, and I think I’ve figured out that it’s because you fell over and bonked your head on the side of the tub two different times. You are pretty steady sitting by yourself, but it’s not unusual for you to fall over and the side of the tub is hard. I have started taking a bath with you, and now you’re happy and splashing in the tub again.

You are eating more solid foods, but I’m still nursing you the majority of the time. I keep forgetting to give you food, especially if we’re out! You really like pears and carrots, but you don’t care for peaches and sweet potatoes that much. You also like the rice cereal. You are really good at eating – you will open your mouth for the spoon and swallow most of the food on it. I gave you a banana the other day, and you had so much fun playing with it! I’m not sure how much you actually ate, though. At least it distracted you while I was getting dinner ready. :-)

With this increased alertness also comes a downside – you are more difficult to bring to places. We brought you to a Taylor alumni dessert one evening, and you “sang” the whole time! I think we’re reaching the point where we need to get a babysitter or not attend. We’ll need to figure out a good rhythm that works for us and you. You do pretty well if it’s something where we are moving around, and you don’t have to be quiet. You came along as we helped someone move, and you did awesome riding on my back in the Ergo!

You have some important trips coming up – you are going out of the country for the first time! We got your passport – you look so cute! I hope you travel well. Also, next month it will finally be warm enough to go camping! We look forward to your first camping trip.

This stage you’re in right now is a lot of fun, and I love being your mommy and seeing you as you grow!

Love, Mommy