11 Months!

It just doesn't seem possible, but it's true...Piper is 11 months old today!  Her first year is going by way too fast for me!

The most exciting news this month (as far as I'm concerned) is that Piper is now sleeping through the night! This past week has been like my literal dream come true.  Kris and I were finally sleep deprived enough to do what we never seemed able to with Riley and tried some sleep training.  I hate not going to my babies when they cry, but I knew that we were going to have to go this tough route so that all of us could get some much needed shut eye and so that I could regain some of my sanity.  To my surprise, she was much more on board with this than I thought she be, I had nightmares about a 2 hour screamfest before we got started.  Our plan was to put her in bed awake instead of rocking and nursing to sleep and then let her try to settle to sleep on her own.  The longest that she has cried was about 15 minutes and after that she is usually out for at least 8 hours. I maybe shouldn't celebrate just yet, but ....woohoo!  Each night has been getting better and better and she now only fusses for about a minute before she crashes.

There is so much to love about Piper at 11 months....she is sweet and silly and also very playful.  Piper has a lot to say to us while she doesn't have as many words as Roo did at this age she is definitely trying to immitate our sounds and words.  It took her a little while, but she is finally saying mama and I know that everyone will be shocked to know that it's my little besties favorite word now.   Animals are always exciting to Piper and if you ask her what a dog says she responds with her "bark" which is "Ah, Ah, Ah". 

She gives us wet sloppy kisses and big toothy grins (she has 6 teeth now).  Piper loves playing with her sister, singing songs, pulling up to stand, reading books and closing doors.

11 months also has it's challenges...we have seen the triumphant return of separation anxiety and it seems to be worse now that it ever has been.  She doesn't want me to leave her sight and there is relentless screaming that ensues during the times that I have to leave her with her Dad or Gigi for a little bit.  I will be soooo glad when this subsides, it makes it pretty tough for everyone involved. 

Now that she is on the move, there is no keeping her from getting into everything these days. Her crawling has gotten faster and she has now taken on kind of a one knee one foot combo like a crab walk to get where she wants to go. The only thing that is stopping her for the moment is the stairs, because she has pretty much become an expert on climbing up and down just one for now. she loves peeking into the cupboards and knows exactly when she's getting into something she shouldn't. I love the little grin she gives me when I ask "Piper....what are you doing?" just as she's about to dive into something good, but I cringe at the fiery little temper that emerges when we have to take something away or redirect her curiosity....it amazing how strong such a little person can be. And here I had her pegged as my quiet, gentle soul...I may have spoken too soon. 

We adore our sweet little sissy! Happy 11 months Pipey!