eleven months of emery

i find myself telling people emery is almost one instead of specifying months. eleven is a big number and a whole year is just crazy talk! my heart gets bigger and bigger as the months go by. and when i hear a mumbling of mamama i just melt right onto the floor. emery also says dadada and nighnighnigh. she's obsessed with other small kids and dogs. like i can be feeding her yummy food and she's more interested in watching the kids & dogs than eating, & she loves eating! she likes bananas now (yay!! they are so easy to take on the go!). though she's interested most in what mom & dad are eating. we still feed her some mushed up baby food, but she mostly eats our diet. i don't notice the milk allergy like i used to, but i still steer her away from cheese and most dairy products. emery learned to spit food out when she doesn't want something, though she still eats most anything. she has 4 teeth on the top and 4 on the bottom.

just recently her hair started growing(!!) and she's got the tiniest most adorable curls, especially when her hair is wet or in humidity. my oh my i'm in love! i'm already taking tips for how to style her hair because i only know straight.

she's mastered crawling and wants to crawl everywhere. target, check! church, check! outside, check! basically any gross surface is where she wants to be. her knees are constantly scuffed up (and black) and she's learned to wiggle and throw a small fit just to make sure we all know she would like to be on the ground. she pulls herself up to drawers, cubbies, chairs, counters, etc. all day long. she sometimes holds onto things and moves a step or two, but mostly she crawls and stands. the other day i was in the kitchen at my mom's house, and it was all too quiet. i called for emery and heard nothing so i walked around the family room, laundry room and then to the living room. no emery. i heard a faint noise upstairs and sprinted to the hall upstairs to find emery sitting legs crossed with a big grin on her face. mother of year right here! she climbed a full set of stairs without me knowing, and gratefully she only wanted to go up and not down. well done child.

as we approach one year i can't help but thank my heavenly father for this sweet spirit. she is absolutely perfect & i adore being her mom. i learn day by day how to be a better mom--from having more patience as emery rips every last kitchen utensil out of a cupboard to admiring the details around me as we pick up rocks and watch passers by. motherhood is so fulfilling and i'm grateful for my little pal.