11 Months Old!!!! Party planning and looking back over the past month

This beautiful child is a full 11 months old today. I cannot believe how much she's developed in the past month!  She's one of the greatest sources of my delight and I truly cannot imagine a life without her! (I'm tiping this post with one hand, since this beautiful child is lying in my arms, fast asleep...)

I've been thinking about her birthday party since January. (Yes, you read correctly.) But I have not been able to find a suitable venue for her party, until Tuesday night, when I realised that our church's hall would be ideal. Especially since her birthday is during late winter and last year there was a quick (but VERY unusual) snow storm 4 days before her birth! An indoors venue cancels out the possibility of bad weather spoiling the birthday party.

Another thing that has caused me lots of concern was that she and her Daddy share a birthday.  How do you host a party for Moms and Babes and involve Daddy's friends in the mix? Plus family?  The easy answer is: You don't. You host two seperate parties. But although that sounds all fair and well, it can become rather costly.  So I've been breaking my head trying to come up with frugal, yet beautiful ideas. Enter Google and Pinterest. I looooove these websites / search engines / call it what you may.  They simplify my life and provide me with cost-effective ideas without compromising on presentation.

The decision has thus been made. Two parties, both at the same venue but 2 hours apart to allow for Linmari to nap in-between. (YEAH, RIGHT! Like that's going to happen!) Linmari's first party with Mommies and Babies and a select few other friends, will be themed "Butterflies and Rainbows" with a homemade butterfly cake, rainbow cupcakes, some other (healthy) fingerfoods for babino's and two different soups with fresh (you guessed it!) homemade bread. Plus coffee and tea. Party favours are being worked on and will also be mostly home/handmade.  And decorations will be a mixture of homemade and store-bought items.

Okay, enough now with the party-planning!

We've had a lot of sensory play and exploration in the past month - much to the disgust of my husband who would rather clean the messy play area than touch a sticky baby!

Linmari can now:

• Climb into the shower, but has also grown fearful of getting out of the shower.
• Climb onto the lounge chairs INDEPENDENTLY!
• Safely get off of the bead - feet FIRST.
•  Say "dada, "mama", "papa", "Ada" (cousin's name), "tat" for cat, and "hello"
• Understands the sign for milk and bath
• Go "ooooh" when she sees something she likes.
• Follow single-step instructions
• Take single steps independently
• Use any furniture as a walking aid, pushing it along across a room
• (Unfortunately) loosen her velcro tabs on her diapers
• Start to help you to take off her clothes
• Walk everywhere with a phone next to her ear. She knows how it works...
• Take off the washing from the line bilaterally (I just loosen the pegs) and drop the clean washing into the laundry basket. So she'll grab onto two socks, one in each hand, then I have to remove the peg and she'll remove the socks from the line.  Too cute for words!
• Take objects from one container and place it into another, starting to do some shape sorting.  She seems to have grasped that round objects goes into the round hole the best.  A cube that goes into the square hole is still lost on her!
• Open drawers, cupboards and unpack what's inside; unpack the bookshelves (every.single.day!) and never grows tired of this activity!

This child amazes me with every developmental milestone that she reaches.  Maybe because I work with children that are delayed or have some hectic obstacles to overcome to reach their milestones.  I realise that one cannot take it for granted that these milestones will be reached.  It is a miracle every.single.time.  My child is a miracle and nothing less!

Linmari has started to really try to exert her will, throwing tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants.  She really struggles to wait a few seconds (don't we all?!?) and the crocodile tears she cries to make it known that she's unhappy is unreal!  Hehehe!  She really makes me laugh a LOT!  But she's also constantly talking to herself and I find that really cute.

We're currently struggling with her sleeping again, back at square one.  She's suffered 3 concurrent middle ear infections in 7 weeks' time, so she's going in for grommets next week Wednesday.  I'm freaking out, thus my husband will be by her side as she gets operated on.  I fear I might actually pass out even though I've seen much more gruesome things in my life.  It's not the same than when it's your own flesh and blood!  So she's really been struggling to sleep and we've had her in her camp cot in our room.  But recently she's spent more time in our bed than in her cot.

So, that's what our 11th month has been like.  LOTS of fun and tears!

May you all be blessed with a great weekend!