11 months

The countdown is on till Claire's first birthday. I can't believe this year has gone so quickly. At 11 months old, Claire is a well-established little personality in the family. She is a little bit sweet, with her generous, tight hugs, her adorable waving and clapping, and her usually-present smile. But she's a little bit sassy, too. She knows how to throw a really good temper-tantrum. She will throw herself down on the ground in a second, not giving a thought to what her head is going to smash into. When she's ready to eat, if you take too long to get food to her chair, she will squeal loudly, with her eyebrows raised. She's a little bit naughty. She knows I don't like it when she sticks her little finger into her mouth while she's eating, getting food all over her hands and sometimes pulling some out. So, from time to time, she'll slowly bring her finger towards her mouth, while she's chewing, and give me a big smile, waiting for me to swat her hand away playfully and tell her "no". Claire still doesn't sleep through the night. She wakes up at random intervals, varying from one night to the next. We never know what to expect when we go to sleep each night. A few weeks ago she finally added "mama" to her vocabulary, but before that, whenever Dad would tell her to say mama, she would reply "dad!" or "dada" or just "daaaaa!". This would go on for several minutes with Dad requesting her to say mama and her replying with one of her forms of dad, in a very defiant tone. I'm sure that's a positive sign of things to come...