Louisa Lately

I don't know how it's possible, but my little baby is turning ONE next week... Next week!  Where did the past year go?!

10 months old...

...and 11 months old!

At almost a year, Louisa is on the go nonstop, crawling and cruising and generally just trying to keep up with her big sisters!

She is getting more comfortable standing up, and is starting to let go of things to stand on her own.

On her own two feet!

She also has almost mastered stairs already... up AND down.  The up part is not so surprising, but the down?  I remember showing Amelia and Ramona repeatedly how to go backwards down stairs and off of furniture, but Louisa picked it up immediately.

[Funny story: Louisa was wiggly during church last week, so I took her to the back of the church, where she crawled around and found a board book to play with.  She decided that she wanted to go downstairs, so she crawled over to the stairs, turned around, and moved down a stair.  She then grabbed the board book, tossed it behind her, and moved down another stair.  She repeated this all the way down the stairs.  Guess she wanted that book when she got downstairs!]

Favorite activities right now include listening to music and "dancing" (moving her head from side to side and stomping her foot), pushing her toy shopping cart, making funny noises, grabbing at whatever Amelia and Ramona are playing with, sneaking crayons off of the easel and coloring on the furniture, going in and out of the dining room (which is one step down from the rest of our house), banging on pots in the play kitchen, and spending time outside.  She just started swim lessons for the first time, too.  It's not a favorite activity yet, but she's getting more comfortable every week.

In the pool with "Da"

First carousel ride 

Louisa says "mama," "da," "ah dah" (all done), "moh" (more), "baba" (bottle), "muh" (monkey), "wuh-muh" (windmill), "ffff" (flower), and a few other words (using the term loosely).  She also makes the signs for "more," "please," and "all done."   And if she wants something that she can't say?  She points!  Favorite items to point at are the cats, any other animals, trees and flowers, and her high chair.

Admiring the "fffs"

Pointing

Speaking of her high chair... Louisa generally eats whatever the rest of us are eating these days, and as of this week, she's now drinking cow's milk, too!  Favorite foods include yogurt, bananas, cottage cheese (okay, any cheese), asparagus, squash, BREAD, pretzels, and whatever food Amelia and Ramona happen to be eating.  We're guessing she weighs about 25 pounds, and she's quickly outgrowing her 12-18 months clothes.  She FINALLY has some teeth, so that helps with the whole eating thing.  :)

Check out those pearly whites!

Louisa is a super affectionate little girl and loves to give hugs and kisses, which works for us because we love to hug and kiss her, too!  I just can't believe my sweet baby is almost one.

Precious girl