Dear Hazel,
You're only one month away from being one year old! (I'm only a little bit late on this post. Not even two weeks!)
Your eleventh month was probably the calmest (in a good way) month out of the last six. I don't think you were sick this month, but to be honest, I've lost track. Between you and your brother, someone has been sick almost constantly since before Christmas! But, unless I'm just blocking it from memory, I think we've had a few weeks' break. (As I type this, though, I'm home a few hours early from work because you have a 102.3 degree fever. Let's hope it's a one-and-done, 24-hour thing this time around.)
You've still got two little teeth. They charged through at 7.5 months and I thought you'd be an earlier teether than your brother, but... everything's been quiet on the toothy front since then.
But you looooove food! Kidney beans, in particular, are a favorite. Funny story about that: Oliver and I were doing the grocery shopping, and I grabbed a can of kidney beans for you. He asked me what the beans were for, and I told them they were for you. Now, Oliver has never particularly liked beans. "Hazel likes beans?" he asked. "Yep, Hazel loooooves beans!" "I like beans, too!" And that night at dinner, when I added beans to your meal, Oliver asked me for some. And he ate them!
You also love avocado (your avocado appreciation has not, however, worn off on Oliver), bananas with peanut butter, scrambled eggs, ground turkey, little pastas, shredded chicken tikka masala, Cheerios, and pretty much everything we're eating. You took part of a turkey wrap out of my hand at a party this weekend and polished it off. And we had brunch with our twin neighbors and you finished 75% of Oliver's PB&J on toast sandwich. Aside from a tiny bite of brownie someone snuck you a month or so ago, you have not had sweets at all. I know that'll change with your party (mostly because I'm making you a smash cake -- what one year old party is complete without a smash cake?!), but I'm proud that you won't have had added/refined sugar your entire first year.
You aren't walking on your own yet, but you're a pro at pulling yourself up to standing. You pull yourself up on the coffee table, the railing on Oliver's bed, against the wall, using someone's leg... pretty much anywhere, any how. You walk if you're holding our hands, or along furniture. You're a pro on your Spherovelo (baby balance bike), and you rode a little 4-wheel ride-on toy at the twins' house for the better part of a half-hour. You still have your little Igor crawl, though. One knee, one leg, two hands, and a butt.
I think you might actually have three words that you use appropriately: mama, dada, and uh-oh. Your teachers were telling us about uh-oh and we hadn't heard it, but we did this weekend!
You're still in size 3 diapers and your little feet are 4 inches long (I know this because I ordered you a pair of handmade moccasins from a local mom, and I had to measure your feet), which translates into pretty much a size 2 shoe. To put it in perspective, the sandals I bought you at Target recently are size 3-6 months, and they're a bit big on you. You have TEENY TINY feet! You comfortably wear 9 month clothes, but the pants you're in today are size 3-6 month. And they're big on your waist, but short on your legs. Baby clothes are so odd!
You are the HAPPIEST baby on the block. Everyone comments on how happy you are, how "chill" you are. Although, I have to say, when you're upset... we know it. You have an extremely shrill, high-pitched scream-cry you break out when you really mean it. Luckily, it doesn't happen that often.
You're just a little love. We're so lucky you're in our life!
Love you, Sweet Pea!
