ktg: 11 months

To be completely honest, Kate's 11th month wasn't groundbreaking. She did a lot of fine tuning of some previously acquired skills and got even cuter but nothing astounding. She is getting better and better with walking with less and less assistance. 

Kate continues to show us that she is "soooooo big", clicks her tongue, says "yuck," "mama," "dada," "sock," "ba(ll)," and a few other sporadic words. She babbles all day long in her low voice and squeals and screeches in her high falsetto the rest of the time. She did perfect her wave this month and her dainty little fingers are constantly opening and closing to say hello to anyone who will look - including herself. Still not clapping, but she does a funny little wash of her hands - and that could very well be attributed to her seeing Rett syndrome on a daily basis. Sigh. At least we can tell it's controlled. I love watching her scrunch her little nose up and after she cries, I love the tear that sits on her chubby cheek. And I love that she lifts to her tippy toes any chance she gets. 

Still no new teeth! Just those two bottom ones that have been hanging out for a few months all by themselves. 

She can dance like the best of them and has added a side-to-side move to her repertoire this month. She was already incredible at the up-and-down bob. One of my favorite things is to watch her when she doesn't know I'm looking. She was even dancing to my sewing machine the other day - I'd see her start to bob every time I pushed the pedal down, then stop when I stopped. 

Kate is a climber. She loves to get on and in anything and everything. And it is so funny to watch her try. She is great at crawling up the stairs and, whenever the gate is open, she races to the bottom step and waits for us. If we don't come, she makes a peep to get our attention. When we finally arrive, she squeals with delight and races as fast as she can until we catch her. 

She loves emptying the tupperware drawer and is getting faster and faster at it. She also loves to help me unload the dirty dishwasher - and is especially drawn to the knives. Nice. She is a tub splasher and loves to try and stand up, but immediately sits down as soon as we look at her with a stern face. She still loves emptying the toilet paper roll and has become so fast and efficient at it, that it sits perched in a nearly-permanent residence on the bathroom counter instead. When we get her in the morning, she sits up immediately and then falls back onto her back when we go to pick her up - giggling like crazy.

Every morning Kate gets to carry my phone downstairs and she carries my keys to/from the car - she takes her responsibilities very seriously. 

She is beginning to appreciate the spring weather and doesn't mind the wind as much anymore, but still doesn't love the grass. 

She sleeps from 7:30-6:30 every day (and is usually woken up by her big sister or she might sleep longer) and takes two naps, usually 2-3 hours each. 

She eats nearly everything, but is becoming a dawdler at the dinner table. If the window is open, she would rather wave to passersby than eat. If music is playing, she would rather dance. If Leah is loud, she would rather stare. And if she knows mom is in a hurry, she would rather take her time. I try to not let her know that I care. She is also down to one bottle a day (first thing when she wakes up) and loves her sippy cup of milk at all other times. She could easily drink four sippies full each day.

Kate just fits perfectly into our family and I know Ryan, Leah and I can barely imagine the time when she wasn't a part of our daily lives. She makes us laugh, drives us up the wall and melts us like butter on a daily basis and we couldn't love her more. 

Weight: ??

Height: ??

Head Circumference: ??

Diaper size: 3

Clothing size: 12-18 months (that belly is bigger than it looks!)

Longest stretch of sleep: 12 hours

NEW Nicknames: Kater-banana (courtesy of her Marshall cousins)