11 Months

Last night we were out at a friend's house and I looked at my phone and realized it was the 10th. I was so far behind on posting 10 month photos, that I completely forgot to keep an eye for her 11 month birthday. She turned 11 months this week and I cannot believe it.
As you can see in these pictures, all recent activity has been about moving. She officially took her first crawling steps just about a week ago, and she has not wanted to sit still since then. She is go go and go. I think that being able to go has made her so much more excited about interacting with other kids. She loves to play with Verona and Max, and when she sits with other kids she's really good with them.
Probably one of my favourite things about watching her grow has been watching her be pleased with herself. She really loves it when she masters something new, and she just beams with excitement when we are proud of her.

10 Months Old

I know I literally say this every single time, but I LOVE this age. My girl is really becoming Cecelia these days - she's changing all the time and that sassy and sarcastic personality shows through more and more each time she learns something new.
Still no crawling - although I know she's right on the edge of it. She's gotten so close so many times, but then she whines a little or gets a little tired and I just hand her whatever she wants. She really has no reason to crawl yet, because I haven't been encouraging it. I keep saying "we'll just get through Christmas and I'll take the tree down, then I'll encourage her to start crawling".
She has become a very good little communicator, which is making both of our lives a lot easier. She has mastered a few of her signs now, and she's very persistant with them until she gets the thing she needs. It has been beyond helpful to her learning these things early. They are a much more valuable skill for us right now than the moving - I'm glad she's got them down.
She is learning how to be particular, and forming her own opinions about things. She has her favourite toys, and people, and foods, and books - and she has her least favourites. It's a lot of fun to watch her express and communicate those things to us, and to watch her be content and pleased with herself and she gets the things she needs.
My favourite part about all of this is that I really feel like I'm developing my relationship with her. She really shows interest in being with me and spending time with me. Her attention span is growing, and we often get the chance to spend time together just reading or playing or snuggling, and she seems to actually enjoy it instead of wanting to move along to the next thing. I really feel like I'm connecting to her more these days than I ever have before, and I love it so much. I fall more in love with this girl all the time, and she knows it too.

 Had to do this month's photos in two shifts because I had a tired cranky girl.

This is her new trick. She loves scrunchy face!

9 Months Old

9 months old - that's a lot of months. This girl is getting so big, and I can hardly even take it. I don't think a day goes by when I don't think "wow, you have changed and grown so much in 9 months, that I can hardly believe it." She has developed quite a personality in the last few weeks, and she is quite a goof.
She loves to look at books. I can often leave her for a few minutes at a time sitting on her bedroom floor surrounded in books while I get a few things done. I'm glad to see she's already so interested in them, and I hope that continues.
She's still not crawling yet - she's a little behind her friends in that area. She has tried a couple of times, and has gotten fairly close, but hasn't made any movement yet. She does do a lot of talking though. No real words yet - except the sound mommma when she's really sad (which I'm still convincing myself means Mom) - but lots and lots of sounds. She growls a lot still, and roars a little bit. She just loves to be a part of any conversation and get her two cents in, even if that's just "bababa" "papapapa""mamama".
I think the thing that's the most fun to watch right now is the development of her character. She is very sassy, and likes to tease people. She has finally learned how to reach for people, and so she does when she wants to go to someone new. She still has not really played shy with anyone, but she certainly has her favourites. Most recently she has learned how cute she is - or at least how cute we all think she is. She knows that she can get away with just about anything as long as she smiles and makes us feel nice after she does it. Even when I have a hard time feeding her the food she's supposed to eat, she thinks she can smooth it over and get her way if she just smiles and shoots me a look from the corner of her eye. She's usually right. She's becoming harder and harder to resist, and I'm falling for her tricks more and more each day. 

8 Months Old

I am loving 8 month old baby Cecelia. Obviously I've loved her at every stage, but I mean that I am loving being a mom more than ever. the 7-8 month period has been by far my favourite. Cecelia is so much fun right now. She is learning more every single day, and she is so pleasant and happy all the time. It's almost like she feels like she's starting to figure out this earth life - something that I'm sure brings relief and joy to her tiny soul. She knows how big she's getting, and she's proud of it. Each new thing she does or learns brings a beaming smile of contentment and satisfaction to her adorable little face (as seen in the first photo below).
Her physical growth has started to plateau (since it couldn't possibly keep up the pace it takes for the first 6 months), but her intellectual and emotional development seems to be accelerated. It has always amazed me how much these babies understand, versus how much we give them credit for, but it seems even more true as the days go by.
Cecelia has learned a couple of sign language terms (although she does not use any of them perfectly). She has learned to sign "more", "all done", and "milk" (although I haven't actually seen her to the last one, others have). She is also finally starting to grow that hair in - just look at it! It's just like her daddy's was at that age. Sticking straight up at the crown. It's a good thing she's a girl and will grow it long enough to weigh it down (or else she'd be like her dad and cursing it now). 
She just continues to bring so much joy and excitement to our home. We cannot imagine our lives without her, and yet cannot believe she's already made it to 2/3 of a year!