Andi's 11th Month

Andromeda had a very eventful 11th month!  In addition to all of the places we traveled and people we saw, Andi made some big strides in motor skills and verbal abilities!  There is a walker at the daycare that has become one of Andi's new favorite toys.  I showed up to pick her up one day and she proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes smiling and giggling and showing me how she can "walk walk walk" with it on her own!  And boy is she fast!  Not so great at turning yet, so it's actually quite a workout for us too because we have to follow her around and adjust her course so she doesn't slam into walls or furniture.  But the pure joy on her face as she zooms around on her own two feet is unreal!  There are also some small wood steps for the babies at daycare and Andromeda loves to climb up the steps.  She can't get down yet, but she's pretty happy chilling on the top for a while once she gets there.  We've taken to letting her climb the stairs at home (supervised of course) followed by some vigorous walking sessions on the walker we have to wear her out at night.  She adores it!

Andromeda can climb the stairs!

A little walking machine (and I'm referring to the baby, not the toy)

And Andi really does chant her version of "walk walk walk" when she walks either with the walker or by holding on to our hands.  It is one of her MANY new words!  She has actually been throwing out way more words than she commonly uses.  She upgraded "baba" to "bottle" for one day but has refused to say it properly since.  The teachers at daycare swear that she says "Brown Bear" but we can't get her to repeat it at home.  She's also said "apple" and numerous other words that are spot on, but apparently only a one-off attempt for now.  In addition to the words she learned last month, her standard vocabulary now includes "wa" for walk, "BUBA!" for bubbles, "dada" which is said with glee every time we get home from daycare and she sees S (it's so damn adorable.  still no Mama, though...), "ah du" for all done which she says with the accompanying hand motions that we've taught her, "bamba" for her beloved peanut butter Bamba snacks,  "bye bye" which she does while waving, "wawa" for her water cup, and "baby" because she is obsessed with all of the new babies that have joined her class at daycare. I'm probably missing a couple too, it's amazing how fast her language skills are picking up!

Andi loves throwing the ball for her puppies

Baby's first sushi restaurant!

Digging the swing at the local park!

Helping dada and uncle K work on the car

Now that Andromeda is crawling, walking, and communicating more she's become so much more interactive and so we've been having fun trying to introduce her to new things.  A new sushi/Asian fusion restaurant just opened up near our house so we went there for an early dinner and Andi tried her first sushi.  She was definitely a fan, especially of the sweet, sticky sushi rice!  The weather has been on and off nice and horrible, so we try to get outside as much as we can when it's nice.   S has been taking her out to the garage for a change of scenery and showing her all of his tools which she is a fan of as long as she can put them in her mouth...  We've also gone on a few fun outings.  One weekend we went into the city for brunch with a friend at a new brew pub followed by a walk in the botanical gardens.

Having fun playing with the kegs at the brew pub

A pagoda gifted by one of Houston's sister cities (I can't remember which one...)

We climbed to the top of what is pretty much the only hill in Houston at the garden and got some great views!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, so we had fun taking Andi to the pumpkin patch, her first pumpkin carving party, and trick or treating!  We decided to dress up in a family costume inspired by the original Jurassic Park!

Chilling in the pumpkin patch

I love this picture of her so much!

Feeling pumpkin guts for the first time

Andromeda's first Jack-o-Lantern!

Pumpkin Carving Partying with Daddy and Uncle K

Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler and an adorable little T-Rex at your service!

We also took Andromeda to her first air show!  There is a Boeing building that overlooks Ellington Field where the Wings Over Houston air show is held and so we took Andi over there for about an hour to hear/watch the planes fly overhead, see a few "explosions" in the distance, and "walk walk walk" in the big parking lot!

Andi's first air show

Walk Walk Walk!

We also went on a big day trip up to the Texas Renaissance Festival!  Andromeda was FASCINATED with all of the people, especially the ones in costumes.  She got to try her first giant turkey leg, see a joust, dance to an old-timey brass band, and people watch to her little heart's content.  We actually had to wind up leaving a bit early.  I was hoping that she would wear herself out with all of the fresh air and people watching and zonk out in her stroller for a nap in the afternoon.  But there was just too much to see.  So we headed out slightly early than planned and she passed out in the car for nearly the entire trip home.

Watching the parade of people in costumes

Mmmm, turkey leg!

So like I said, it was an eventful month!!!  This summary doesn't even include all of the usual stuff like swim class and laundry basket autocross.  We'll be back next month when Andromeda turns 1 YEAR OLD!!!  Can you believe it's nearly been a year?!?  In the meantime, I leave you with out takes from our monthly photo session, which was especially trying this month...