Izzie, You're 11 Months Old Today!

(Go Bears!)

Dearest Izzie,

Wow! You are 11 months old today! The next time we do this, you'll be 1 year old. This week, the weather started getting really cold. Like really, really cold. And it reminded us of last winter, when we were preparing our home for your timely arrival. Winter is really your season now; you own it. When we get chills, we think of the time you were born. And it's an exciting time too, because so many thing happen this time of year. This past month you had your first halloween, but next month, we'll have thanksgiving and your birthday, and soon after that, Christmas too!

OK, on to your developments. You learned how to clap, raise your hands, wave bye-bye, and turn your hands (twinkle, twinkle little star!) on cue. Before you were imitating us, but now you can respond to us. You love peek-a-boo, and not just watching us do it. You like taking blankets and pulling them over your head, then revealing your beautiful smile. You have the most adorable laugh in the world. Your voice is coming out too. We think you'll be a very cute talker. Grandma thinks you have a beautiful voice, and she should know, since she's a professional classical vocalist. You're a dancer too! Well, a shaker, at the very least. You like to wiggle side-to-side when you see us doing it, or even when you just hear some music.

You're officially a carnivore! You're first foray into the animal kingdom was ground chicken breast. Mommy chopped it up into tiny little pieces with the food processor, and mixed it into your butternut squash. You also LOVE yogurt. Morning yogurt breakfast times are your special times with Daddy. You're one of the few things in the world that can drag him out of bed in the mornings. We also started putting cheese in your food, and you love it, because it adds so much more flavor.

You're definitely getting stronger and much more mobile. You can almost pull yourself up on the crib. You like reaching for things way above your head, and are starting to grab ledges. We can see that you have a lot of determination, and that has resulted in a few minor bumps to the ol' noggin. But we can tell that you're cautious too, compared to other kids your age. You eye a challenge and contemplate it first, before proceeding with action. Your new favorite toy is the Fisher Price Cruise 'n Crawl, but your real favorite toy is the iPhone. We want you to have some comfort items, because you're definitely getting stranger anxiety. We get paged by the church nursery quite often these days!

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about your developments this month. We definitely enjoyed being there. October was a slow month for the blog. But this month, we're implementing our November challenge: we're going to try to make a post every day, because there's so much to record. Mommy's getting sad that you only have one month left in your first year. After that, you won't be an infant anymore. So make it count, booboo! We can't wait to see what's next. Just for you, to end this month's rendition, we thought we'd write you a few 11-month haikus.

Isabella Chang
You Want to Touch Everything
But We Deny You

Why Do We Do So?
Ready to Discover? Ouch!
Bumped Your Head Again.

Crawling and Standing
Are Your New Developments
You Will Walk Too Soon

Babble and Babble
Greetings You Uttered Last Week
Hello! Hello! Bye!

Playing with Remote,
Almost Recorded Spongebob.
Sigh, You Silly Girl!

Eleven Quick Months.
The Moments Went By Too Fast.
We Love You, Izzie.

Love,
M+D