11 Months Old!

Violet is 11 months old today! In celebration of this event, Violet took her first step! She also got an ear infection… again. Since she has now had 4 ear infections in 5 months, she gets to have tubes put in. That will probably be happening in the next couple of weeks.

Besides being a lousy sleeper (hopefully because of the ear infections), Violet is a very happy girl. Some of her new favorite things are driving toy cars around the house (with sound effects), spinning in circles, hanging upside down, and trying to figure out how to use the remote control. She still doesn't have any teeth, but one is threatening to pop through at any moment. I maintain hope that it will come through by Christmas. She is becoming very curious. She loves exploring the house and getting into everything that she should not get into. She has discovered the one cabinet in our kitchen that is not locked and loves to bang it open and closed. She dives into the toy box trying to reach stuff in the very bottom. She removes movies from our drawers daily and throws them all over the living room. She has what I call "gate radar" because she always knows when the gate is not in place at the bottom of the stairs and makes a break for it. And she has been trying to figure out how to climb on Eddie's bed. Luckily she hasn't succeeded yet.

She is also becoming quite the chatterbox. Here are some of the words she says that we've been able to identify so far:

Eddie

I think that "Eddie" was Violet's first real word. Usually the only times I hear her say it is when we go into Eddie's bedroom or when we get into the car and Eddie is not with us and she sees his empty seat. Apparently she knows where Eddie belongs.

Dada

Violet's babbling always sounded like, "da da da," but I think that "Dada" was among her very first words. Ever since our Portland trip, Violet is not so anti-Daddy as she used to be. She gets very excited when he gets home in the evenings.

Mama

The only times I have heard Violet say "Mama" are when she has been in some sort of anguish. The first time, she was trapped under one of the drawers on our entertainment center. The next time, she was being prodded by the doctor. She doesn't say it very often.

Uh-oh

This is probably her most frequently used word, which I posted about a few weeks ago.

Batman

Yes, as mentioned in the previous post, Violet says "Batman." The first time I heard it, I thought she said "Mama," but the more she said it, the more I could tell the difference.

What's that?

Violet says "sat?" when she makes her surprised face. I am sure she got this from me and Eddie because every time we hear any sort of noise, we always make funny surprised faces and say "what was that?!"

Good girl

When Violet follows verbal instructions (i.e., come down the stairs or sit down in the tub), I say "good girl!" Now when I say it, Violet responds with "goo ga!"

Dance dance

Violet loves music and will dance to any sort of beat. There is a little segment between shows on PDS Kids called Dash's Dance Party which Eddie always sings along to. That got me started on singing the Dance Party song every time Violet dances, so now she sings it, too. She also sings along with The Cat In the Hat song, "go go go go!"