The Cahill Family: 10 & 11 Months

Miss Margaret is eleven months old! How did this happen?! To be honest, it is hard for me to remember time "before" Margaret, however, this past year has flown by! I am having a hard time coming to grips with the little pre toddler she is becoming. {Disclaimer: I have been horrible with the blog the last 7 months. I actually wrote this in November and am just now posting it in June! Hoping to catch up soon!}

Busy Girl!

I love it when she smiles like this!

11 months old

Watching big sister!

So, I have a lot of catching up to do. Margaret has changed so much in the past two months. That girl is non.stop. She is happiest playing on the ground with big sister, Mary Frances. Her shuffle crawl morphed into the army crawl which morphed into proper crawling on hands and knees and before we know it she will be walking. She will sit and play for a very short time but prefers to pull up on anything and everything and see what she can find. I constantly find myself scanning the floor and higher levels to see what Margaret might find attractive and decide to get into. I definitely had forgotten about this phase where you cannot get anything done during their waking hours because you are constantly monitoring baby and your house for safety! No wonder I fall asleep as soon as my head hits my pillow every night!

Right in the middle of action! Gotta keep up with Mary Frances!

"Hey Mama!"

Busy bee

Sister's kitchen!

Look who can open the cabinets

She sure is pleased with herself!

Here are some more things about Margaret at 11 months:
- pulls up on everything (she doesn't need much to get her up!)
- has 5 teeth
- sleeps 12 - 13 hours at night
- takes 2 naps a day
- weaned from nursing (just before 10 months) and takes 4 bottles a day
- eats 3 meals a day and is a great eater
- can say "dada" and "mama" and I am pretty sure she says "da" for dog and "ah da" for all done
- her smile can brighten your rainiest day
- she would much prefer to play with big sister's toys than any of her own "baby" toys
- she is very much afraid of and, at the same time, intrigued by Maggie (the degree of fear being directly related to Maggie's activity level)
- started clapping her hands in the last week
- plays "peekaboo"
- snuggles so nicely on my shoulder
- I think she might be a daddy's girl
- I have caught her standing without holding on to anything this past week
- will take baby steps while holding onto your hands and is cruising
- starting to understand commands such as "no touch," etc.

Margaret truly has no fear when it comes to her physical activity. We went to a nearby park a few weeks ago as a family. Margaret would dive head first down the slide and proceeded to crawl all around the playground apparatus. If I can figure out how to post a video of her going down the slide, I will. It is so cute! She seems to be much more determined than Mary Frances was and I have a feeling it is because she wants to keep up with her big sister so badly!

Measuring at Cagles Family Farm!

Margaret's personality is also starting to shine. Every time I pick her up from nursery at church or BSF, the nursery workers always tell me what a sweet disposition she has. She is so content and usually happy to play. One woman even told me she was going to start praying for a grandchild like her. So sweet and encouraging. While Margaret is so sweet, she is also starting to express herself. If you pick her up before she is done playing with something (or try to get something away from her), she will scream in protest! It sounds horrible but is kind of funny at the same time. Last week we were going through Costco and every time we passed a sample station where I did not give her a sample, she would throw herself back in the cart. Sweet baby girl knows what she wants.

Mary's Little Lamb

This is how she wanted to stay in the wagon!

And just to follow up from her nine month post, Margaret had a weight check at ten months and gained nicely to 19 lb 9 oz. Just short of two pounds in one month. This was great news and I am glad she is catching back up on her growth curve.