Willow at nearly 11 months old
She is a happy soul. She loves to watch people being busy -- as if she's getting vicarious pleasure from all our bustling about while she still can't do much. Yes, still not crawling, although this last week she's started making a bit of an effort and has twice pushed herself slightly backwards. It's a start! She can roll but mostly chooses not to.
Making noise is her favourite thing. Never happier than when banging two objects together. We're going to give her a xylophone for her birthday. She sings along when I play the piano. When she hears any kind of music her face lights up and she does the Music sign. It's adorable. She's not very interested in toys if they don't make a noise. Stacking cups or other hard toys are okay because she can bang them together (although she'd much prefer to bang a pair of shoes together, or hit the radiator with a whisk) but soft toys are basically ignored.
Signing is still going okay. She doesn't make many signs but can understand plenty, and I love that we can have slightly more complex interactions. For example, last night she had a late supper and then began looking anxiously at my mug of tea. She signed Drink but I didn't have one for her so I signed Milk. She thought about it for a few seconds (seriously -- you could see it in her face) and then enthusiastically responded. No discernible words yet but her babbling is sounding more intentional. I think she's on the cusp.
She's currently most proud of her new clapping and waving skills and is working out the social cues for both.
At the beach today she kept eating sand.
She wakes a lot in the night.
She has 5 teeth, with 3 more incisors on the way. Once her top and bottom front incisors were through I gave her a whole raw apple to bite. Her face said this was the greatest thing ever.
If she realises Matt is approaching -- eg hearing his footstep on the stairs -- she will start to smile in anticipation of being highly amused. He has such a gift with babies and small children. And she adores River. River claims frequently that she loves her baby sister, but also greatly enjoys poking, squashing, grabbing, etc her. And Willow is never allowed to play with any toy for very long.
She loves playing peepo and will hide her face behind anything she can pick up.
Her neatest trick is to tilt her head to one side and wait for her victim to tilt their head in response. It's impossible to resist. We went to a wedding and I had her on my knee, facing towards the back of the church. She was smiling at the people behind us (a few empty rows between us and them) and then she tilted her head. I heard a stifled giggle, turned around, and saw a whole row of people with their heads on one side. I wonder if it gives her a sense of mastery and control over her surroundings.
Honestly, how could anyone resist this?
It's so wonderful to watch her become her own little person.