11 months

Mariah is a little ball of goof lately. She is standing for pretty long intervals, and has even taken a couple small steps. Still working on the balance. I can tell she wants to walk and often has us hold her hands to help her get from here to there like a dignified bipedal.

She knows the exact things she is not supposed to do (e.g. eat the houseplant dirt, play on the banister railings, mess with the tv antenna) and crawls gleefully over to do exactly that but turns around first to make sure we are watching. Once she confirms that she has our attention she reaches in slow motion for the forbidden object and then laughs hysterically when we come to remove her.

She still eats everything. It is great now that she can eat most table food; dinner prep is a little easier and she is happy to eat what we eat.

Last week while Matt was working late, we sat on the floor and shared a big bowl of spicy Indian curry while she smiled big at every bite, and I thought: I didn't even know this was my dream, but it just came true. I love enjoying food with her.

Unfortunately she loves non-food items almost as much as food items. Pebbles, wood chips, leaves, toilet paper fresh from the roll, dryer lint out of the garbage, you name it. This morning she was munching on a whole bulb of garlic that fell off the kitchen counter. Yum.

She likes pulling things out of cabinets and drawers, and putting different things back in. It's not unusual to find her hairbrush in the garbage, or a ball in the crock pot. She thinks it is great fun to put cotton balls and receipts down the air vents. Throwing things down the stairs is another favorite game.

Grandma Morris gave her a baby doll during their last visit, and Mariah latched right on to that. She rocks that baby doll and says "awwwww" while patting her back. She brings me her doll to have me put the binky in her mouth over, and over, and over again. I am constantly surprised at how much she understands. We can ask , "Where's your baby?" and she looks around until she finds her doll and then brings it to me.

She also likes "reading" to herself sometimes.

She is barely starting to learn to repeat some words. It is adorable. Besides saying "mama" and "dada", she says "doh" or "hey doh" (here you go) when she hands me an object and "to yo" (thank you) when I give it back. 

When I am folding laundry she'll stand by the dryer and pull out pieces of clothing to hand to me saying "hey doh" with each one. It is actually somewhat helpful. Mind blowing. 

Her assistance at the dishwasher is a little less helpful as she climbs on top of the open door and throws silverware on the floor.

Even less helpful is her sweeping assistance when she crawls right in the middle of the collected dirt and dried food and lifts a handful to her mouth like, "Hey thanks for gathering all my snacks in one convenient place!"

She just has a mind of her own. She prefers to suck on her paci upside-down, and she likes riding in the Target cart like this, no matter how many times I tried to make her sit normally. Gangster.

She makes me laugh. Her giggle reminds me that everything is funny. She is so much fun to have around.  She sings along to the radio in the back of the car, and pulls the shower curtain over herself to play peek-a-boo in the bathtub. She is super affectionate and gives big monkey hugs and slobbery kisses. I can't capture her sweetness in words.

I like that she still wants to be swaddled for her naps and bedtime, and she prefers to fall asleep in my arms. We're down to nursing just in the morning and before bed (and sometimes once in the night); I didn't think I would ever say I would miss it, but I'm kind of not ready to stop. I am already mourning her babyhood; I know there will be other babies, but there will never be another baby Mariah, and that is a very sad thing.

(Thanks for the pic, Meaghan!)