The Lucky Ducks: 10 & 11 months update

Well, I got a little behind on everything and didn’t get a chance to post when Anna Claire turned 10 months but I’m back and have lots of cute pictures. We were very busy planning vacation (Owen & Anna Claire were at the beach for the first time!) and just doing regular stuff that keeps us busy every day.

Here’s a quick 10 month update for Miss Priss. At ten months, Anna Claire was crawling on her belly and attempting to get into hands and knees to crawl. She moved around the house at a quicker speed than before even though she seemed to be dragging herself more than crawling. She was fingering feeding herself a few snack foods and attempting to use a sippy cup to drink water. She began holding and looking at board books just before turning 10 months (although for quite a while, she had been very interested in looking at books when she’d sit on my lap while we’d read Owen’s books). Just before she turned 11 months old, her sixth tooth popped out (that explained the previous two weeks of up every two hours!).

Owen is, of course, constantly learning lots of new things and attempting to exert his independence (yikes!) on an hourly (or maybe minute by minute) basis every day. He can be the sweetest and most challenging child I’ve ever met all at the same time (can you tell I’m not a huge fan of 2 years old?). Most recently, he has learned to spell his name and identify it when he sees it; identify the “A” for Anna Claire; hold up one finger, two fingers, and five fingers and identify which amount he’s holding up; sit on the big potty without a potty seat; and wear underwear and stay dry with few to no accidents during waking hours. He is definitely “all boy” and loves to wrestle and climb and shoot stuff (don’t worry, it’s only a squirt gun or a play gun). He’s still in love with Toy Story and he really prefers TS 2 & 3 to the first one because Jessie is in the second and third movies. I think we’re looking at a Toy Story themed birthday party as his love has yet to diminish for “Rootingest Tootingest Cowboy” and his crew. Thanks to Poppa, we took Owen to see Toy Story 3 on ice in May and it was so exciting to see his face as each character came to life in front of him. He was truly in awe and had a great time. I’m hoping to take him to see the new Cars movie this summer, it will be his first movie theater experience and I’m sure he’ll enjoy it. He still loves to watch Curious George but Toy Story is his favorite thing to watch right now (I think we could have it playing 24 hours a day for a month and he wouldn’t be tired of it).

At the beginning of June, we went to Fort Walton, Florida and had a great vacation. We hung out with Poppa, Aunt Laurie, Uncle James, Lilly, and Elliot and spent some time with Aunt Steph, Uncle Tiger, Lexi, and Amber. Owen loved digging in the sand and splashing in the pool but was a little hesitant to go into the gulf (I think it was just too loud, too big, and moved too fast). Anna Claire liked digging her feet in the sand and was lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves. She hung out on the beach with mommy and even took a few naps right there on the beach (which gave mommy a little reading time – yay!). Just before going to Florida, Anna Claire had learned to pull to standing but she perfected it while we were there. I have to say that one thing I was happy about seeing when we got home was our own “child proofed” house – it was so hard to keep her out of all of the stuff in the condo since she was moving so fast. I have to say that our first family vacation and first trip to the beach was a success! We had a great time and hope to be able to do it again.

At 11 months, Anna Claire is a very mobile and talkative girl! She is cruising along the furniture, crawling on hands and knees, climbing onto things much taller than her (oh yes, she is a CLIMBER!!!), and, in general, moving FAST! Her favorite thing to do right now is to climb up on Owen’s train bed and then attempt to climb down (which looks as if she’s going to fall on her head and snap her neck but she somehow makes it work, most of the time…). She says, “mama” “dada” “Owa” (Owen) “Poppa” “ni-ni” (night night) “uh oh” “hi” “bye bye” and “bay-bay” (baby). She waves hi and bye and is starting to imitate the signs for “more” and “all done” at meal time. She will sometimes give a kiss on request and loves to pat-pat and hug. She clicks her tongue, makes “lubble” sounds with her tongue (moving it all around while humming), and says, “p p p p” (she does all of this in play and in imitation). She is a loud talker and has a huge laugh. She puts the phone (or remote) to her ear and “talks” and puts a headband on her head (she’s even managed to get it to stay a time or two). She is still taking morning and afternoon naps and wakes up at night (sometimes once, sometimes three times…). She is eating a huge variety of foods and the only thing she hasn’t been directly exposed to is nuts and shellfish. She finger feeds herself most of her food and knows how to sip water out of a sippy cup. When she is finished eating, if she’s not taken out of the highchair quick enough, she starts waving her hands on her tray to sweep all of the food off. She’s all smiles most of the time but when she’s mad, she lets you know! She loves to chase Owen around and tries her best to keep up with him. I can’t believe we’re planning her first birthday – this year has gone by in a blink!