NAOMI AT 11 MONTHS

Naomi turned 11 months last week and so much has happened into our little angel’s life, particularly the not-so fun bout of sickness that is still lingering until now. Her cold and flu didn’t dampen her cheerful spirit though, which tells me that she’s one resilient little bunny. She had quite a busy social calendar from attending her first birthday party, getting dressed up to go to the races with her BFF Baby Sunshine, playing dress-up at Twyla’s rock n’ roll day, to being in front of the camera for her first fashion photo shoot with her mama.

With only one month away from turning 1, she’s developed so much since my last update and I feel like she’s now this little person full of personality and life.

Naomi at 11 months:

Personality: I wrote last month that it takes her a while to warm up to people, but something changed in her this month and she feels much more secure with strangers saying hi to her and even letting them carry her on occasions. Although, her death stare will still scare the life out of you, she’s been flashing her cute smile and dimples to people, which makes my heart melt.

She also developed a distinct sense of humor, which is something she got from Anthony. Her latest trick is to drop her toy on the floor and cracks up when we act surprised and picks it. When we hand her toy back, she’ll drop it again and goes on hysterically laughing.

Doing: Have conversation in her ‘baby language’. It’s amazing to see her engage in a conversation with me, complete with new sounds and intonations. I’m left wondering what is going on her in head. We think it’s fascinating most of the time but not at 2am when she decides to wake you up (by slapping your face) to have a full-on conversation with you.

She’s learned:

• Touches her hair when asked ‘where’s your hair?’
• Throwing a ball
• Hand gesture saying that she’s finished eating.
• Turn the lights on and off
• Share her food when we ask ‘Can we have some’
• Points out where the cow is says ‘Moo’ (we are working on the rest of the animals)

Her development at Twyla: Naomi is one of the older babies in her Cheeky Chicks class and she’s become the big sister to the younger babies. She loves taking care of them by rocking their bouncer or sharing her toys with them. There have been a few fun activities at Twyla, including a rock n’ roll day and World Book Day, where she dressed up as Little Nutbrownhare from the book ‘Guess How Much I Love You’.

She’s also been standing for longer periods of time and often wants to let go of her teacher’s hand when they assist her in walking. Her teachers are convinced that it’s only a matter of time before she’ll start walking.

Favorite Activity: Dancing! I grew up dancing from a little age and it’s something I want to impart to her, so we’ve been having dance parties everyday when she gets home from the nursery. We have our mommy and daughter dance to ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ by Frankie Valli but nothing gets her moving than the Star Wars soundtrack.

Eating: Her favorite food at the moment is mommy’s fish pie and a green smoothie. She hates vegetables, so I’ve been sneaking in greens with these two foods. This month, we started teaching her how to use a spoon and all I can say is there’s a lot of food splatter on our food shelf and even the ceiling.

Dislikes: Her cold and flu. She’s been sick twice this month and she’s still battling a terrible cold, which sees her waking up in the middle of the night having a coughing fit. She’s been sleeping with us at the moment so I can nurse her on demand at night, but it also meant that I got her sickness too as she’s been coughing on my face at night to wake me up!

Her firsts:

• Taste of ice cream. She loved the melon flavor from Mado.
• Attending her first birthday party.
• Photo shoot here
• Podcast interview here
• Going to the playground swing
• She loves wallets and handbags, and I got her first bunny wallet, as she wouldn’t let go of it in the store.

My favorite thing about her this month: Definitely her sense of humor. Even though, we have been sleep deprived this month, she’s kept us smiling with the little things she does.