Giana at 11 months

Gigi is certainly in "the wheelhouse of cuteness." (as Kenny likes to say) She just gets cuter and more fun everyday. What a joy it is to play with her and watch her. Here are some things that she is now doing at 11 months: she clicks her tongue and blows kisses. She has just popped her 4th tooth and will grind them. It is funny to see her trying figure out what her teeth are. She loves babies (girls are really wired differently than boys and it seems to start so young) and will call any baby that she sees "baby"....like what is she?? She also tries to put on Talia's necklaces, but goes over her head with them. She isn't walking quite yet, but she is standing on her own for a few seconds. She is getting faster at cruising furniture, and uses the wheelie toy to get around, but gets mad when it crashes into the wall and stops her. She also loves to go up stairs and is not happy when the gate is there to block her way.

Some of her new food loves are ritz crackers, graham crackers, any cheese and yogurt. She will also eat pretty much anything that we are eating too. Good job!

She loves to touch the tree and lights. She also loves music and her fave song right now is a song from HSM 2. If you sing "na, na na na , you are the music in ____" she will say “me!” Very cute! While she is not clapping her hands on her own yet, when she does clap, her hands are now open (not in fists anymore). She is really getting cause and effect—if I drop something off my highchair, where will it go? If I pull Talia’s hair, what reaction will I get? If I push this button, what will happen? And she does like to push buttons to hear songs and push the keys to play the piano. She really loves the microphone and loves to hear her voice echo on it. She loves to open and close all drawers/cabinets and take everything out. We've really had to baby proof! She also really has a love of animals. She loves Gunner (Annie's dog) and loves when he licks her. She loves the pets of our friends and will chase around cats. It is so opposite of Talia and is great to see.

Her new words includes: please (peas), more (mo), all done (ah duh), uh-oh, and ni-ni (night night); really playing with her voice—coughing for fun, screaming, vibrating her throat. She really seems to understand so much--come here, up, down, open, close, no...just to name a few. You can also ask her "where's mama, dada, Talia" and she will look to that person/object.

We went to the doctor today for another check-up and she continues to have a double ear infection! We did a pre-operation visit and she weighs in at 23.5 pounds and 29 ¼ inches long. She will have surgery to get tubes on Tuesday, Dec 29. Hopefully this will help to give her some relief from the ear infections that do not end!!! Despite these horrible ear infections, the croupy cough and the constant runny/stuffy nose, she is the happiest, easy go lucky baby. We are so lucky!