My Baby at Eleven

My daughter completed 11 months today. Its almost a year since she arrived into my arms. It feels like yesterday though. I remember, being in the hospital and looking at her sleep in the crib trying to remember her face. I was so scared, I might not be able to recognize her admist other new-borns, if at all she got lost or misplaced and someone asked me to identify her :).

At Eleven,

1) She has mastered her princer grip. She will sit and try to pick any tiny black dots, pieces of paper, dust particles on the floor. Initially she wasn't sure what to do after she has picked it up, now-a-days it goes straight to the mouth for all kinds of tasting/testing.

2) She loves tearing books into papers and then tear them again into more pieces untill she has freed the soul of that piece of paper.

3) She enjoys making all kinds of noise. She and Sharon (my sister's daughter) had a gala time snatching a plastic bag from each other and howling, trying to make the maximum noise.

4) Sharon is 3 months younger than her and when she visited us last she could just turn over and was trying to reach for different things kept a little away by her mother to motivate her to move ahead. My daughter would see Sharon struggling and howling and would go pick them and offer it to her.

5) She claps & tries to sing along with Ammachy & friends at prayer meetings. All that comes out is aaa...aaa..aaa..aaa (there are highs and lows) but she sings as if she is singing right along with them.

6) She will crawl into/over anything where she can reach, be it under the dinning table or the window sill or the side table of the bed, the sofa, under the bed ... everywhere.

7) She says Ma..ma..ma Yahooooooooooooooo!!!!

8) She can get into a standing position on her own, right in the centre of the room. She will look at me and sway either ways with clapping hands. She has been trying to stand on her own for over a month, she just couldn't take her hands off the floor.

9) She loves fish. She rather have her food from our plates than her own. She hasn't started showing any fuss over food yet.

10) She took her first small step early this month. Now she walks all around. Initially, if she sees you watching, she would just give up and start crawling but since last 2 days therez lot of walking.

11) She loves playing in & with water.

12) Earlier, she could only take things out, and never put them into the box or container or sort. Since last 2-3 days she has started putting them back. She keeps Ammachy on her toes with all the stuff she throws around in the house.

13) She understands ball ta (give me the ball), dolly ta, mama eyk ta (give it to mama), bow bow is the dog below.

14) She holds her hand to the ear whenever we say Hello!!!

15) She imitates anybody coughing, but if it is a hard/loud cough she will start crying immediately.

Its lots of fun, fills me & P with pride and overwhelms us at times to see our little child grow. Her little achievements, like when she managed to open a drawer, to walk continuously without having to sit down, to hold her balance when turning around while walking, to pick food from the table and to be able to put it into the mouth, to climb down from the bed, to be able to roll her toy and so many many more, we are the blessed witness to the divine events. We see her face beaming when she has done something she was having trouble with. We clap our hands and she claps along.