11 Months Old!

Wow, so this past month has been incredibly busy. It's amazing how quick time goes by when it's actually nice outside and we are able to get out and do things! Bella has had a very big month as well- the most notable difference being that she is now walking! It took her the whole month of April to decide that she could do it all the time, but then at the beginning of May she started to walk more than she crawled. She learned how to stand up on her own at the end of April. Bella is pretty steady on her feet now as well, which I think is why she took so long to walk all the time. She wanted to be good and ready. :)
Our monthly picture- only one more to go! It is definitely a difficult task getting Bella to sit still on a chair. However, it's fun to look back at all her various months, although she hasn't really changed a lot, other than growing bigger. I think even her eyes look the same as when she was a newborn!
New words: Bella picked up on some new vocab this month as well. She started saying ball at the beginning of April after she got some bouncy balls. She then quickly associated any round object with a ball and said ball incessantly anytime she saw it. :) I also taught Bella how to say uh-oh, which in hindsight was not such a great idea. Now when she drops (or throws) toys/food/any object from her highchair/crib/any possible place, she has a phrase to go along with it. Bella 's other favorite word is still mama. However, for some reason, she calls pictures of babies mama as well. Not sure where that association came from!
Bella also knows how to make some animal noises- hiss for a snake, quacking for a duck (her version of quack anyway), growling for a tiger, and bawk for a chicken. I'm still working on meow. :) Bella is starting to become even more interactive with us and understands a lot of what we say. She knows what objects are and goes to get them when we tell her to- like her baby, stuffed kitten, and ball. She also feeds us food when we tell her to, which is a good way to get her to eat! I have her take turns with feeding Mommy and then herself.
Speaking of eating... I'm continuing to work on Bella eating more table food. At the beginning of the past month, it was not going so hot. However, it is much better now, and I no longer think she will be eating baby food until she is 16. She has eaten lots of "big people" food and doesn't just spit it out instantly anymore. She really likes bread, turkey, pasta, chicken, and cheese. Bella doesn't do as well with anything she has had in baby food, although she is starting to do better with fruits. Veggies... not so much. Those get spit out quickly. :) She is also drinking much better from a sippy cup as I found one that she likes.
We have played outside A LOT. Any day that it's nice we go on walks (usually a few) and go roam around in the backyard. Miss Bella absolutely adores it. This picture shows one of her favorite activities- playing with the rocks in our landscaping. We try to distract her away from them, but little miss stubborn doesn't give up easily. So she is allowed to bang them together and make little piles in the grass. Bella is still quite the curious little girl. She digs in any possible cupboard to see what she can find. Here she has discovered grocery bags, which led to a lot of fun! She also likes to turn the light switches off and on. And off and on. Repetitively.
Bella also pushes any object that moves. Here she managed to move one of our dining room chairs into the kitchen. She can also maneuver objects in the right direction if they get stuck in something. I think she's pretty strong because she gives things a mighty yank to get them out of the way!
Bella discovered that she can play peek-a-boo on her own. She holds something up over her head and sits very still while we ask where's Bella? She thinks she's pretty funny.
Bella also started doing the sign for all done when she is eating. I have done some simple signs with her since she is about 6 months, so it was fun to see her start doing it on her own. However, she sometimes starts doing the sign the second she gets in her high chair....
Bella is showing off her new bling- yes, the ears are now pierced. Getting it done was not a very pleasant experience. The actual piercing was just like a shot, which of course entails much crying and unhappiness. But possibly even worse was just getting her to sit still. If Bella doesn't want to do something, then she's going to fight like crazy to get her way (oh so very stubborn). So it was a challenge getting her to sit still enough to get her ears done. But we made it, and they look quite adorable. And she hasn't messed with them at all!

Derek, Bella, and I walked the Klompen Classic before Tulip Time. There was around 2000 people participating, so it was a bit of a challenge navigating our stroller through all the swarms of people. But we made it- and Bella actually stayed in her stroller the entire time! We kept her happy munching on some snacks.
Bella and her mommy on my first Mother's Day... which unfortunately included an unpleasant experience. We were over at Derek's parents for lunch, and Bella was playing with a toy in the kitchen. She was pushing the toy, and somehow the handle snapped right off... thus she fell with the handle onto the floor. She was bleeding, so we thought she just cut her lip on her tooth. But apparently she fell quite hard because she chipped her front tooth. :( I was pretty sad to see my baby have her first accident, and to see blood. I'm taking her to the dentist this week to make sure the root wasn't damaged (teeth can apparently die if they're chipped badly enough). Hopefully that's not the case! And I'm hoping they can fix the tooth with some bondage... otherwise poor Bella will have a chipped tooth until she is like 5 years old.