stella, 11 months

Can it really be possible that Stella is already 11 months old? I think I ask this same question every month. Time is speeding by, and every day Stella grows, and changes, and masters something new.

It's hard to believe that at around this time last year I was preparing to leave my job at Chronicle Books, I was very uncomfortably pregnant and pretty apprehensive about giving birth. I had so many plans about what I would do with my "free" time. I look at that list now, and chuckle. Some of those things (making jam, pickling things, gardening, knitting) will just have to wait...

And so, here we are. A year later.

At 11 months Stella is a whirlwind of activity. If she's not climbing the stairs, she's pulling books off shelves and ridding them of their dust jackets. If she's not creeping along the length of our couch (biting it as she goes) she's exploring the contents of our cupboards looking for something to chew on. She is endlessly curious; it's one of my favorite things about her.

She's a helper. She likes to "help" me fold laundry. After we're done it looks like a tornado picked up all our clothes and dropped them randomly around the room, curiously enfolded.

Stella has mastered "bye," though it sounds a little like "bah biee." She says bye to anything, and throws in a wave for good measure like when we leave the house she tells it goodbye and waves at the front door.

She loves to be chased. By that I mean she loves to be caught and tickled and kissed until she squeals with laughter. I love catching her and smothering her with kisses and tickles. I could do it all day long. She is just so kissable.