11 months old!

Can't believe Arden is now 11 months old! And we're just 2 weeks away from the big 1st birthday. We've had quite an eventful few weeks. David and I went to Italy for a week as he had to go for a conference and lucky me got to tag along. My parents came up to watch Arden while we were gone and they had a blast with her, although they did admit upon our return that they were very tired! Then we were home for a week and then off again this time to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina where my parents rented a beach house for the whole family.

Despite all of our travels, we've had so much fun watching Arden as she learns more and more each day. Here are some of her accomplishments at 11 months:
- She has finally figured out how to drink out of a sippy cup. We actually started with water bottles as she loved to drink out of ours when we had them. I was able to find some toddler water bottles and she really enjoys those.
- She eats just about anything we give her. Some of her favorites are cauliflower, butternut squash, cheese, spinach, and yogurt.
- She is almost to the point where she can run. She starts walking so fast that it is almost a run at times. It's pretty funny to watch.
- She has learned how to throw a ball although this is not limited to just ball throwing. She throws blocks and puzzle pieces so we do have some work to teach her that we should only throw balls.
- She's beginning to say "Da-da" consistently and will say "Ma-ma" but I'm not certain that she understands that she can use these words to actually call us when she needs us.
- She now understands the sign for "more". She does it very well when asking for more food but actually tonight impressed me by asking for "more" when we were playing a fun game that she liked.

We're so impressed with her and love watching to see what she will learn next! Here are some pictures from her 11 month birthday.

Playing with one of our neighbors, Elena