Parker - 11 Months Old

Labor Day = Parker's 11 month birthday!

Parker started her new classroom today...no longer in Infants 1, she is now is Tiny Tots 2.  The Tiny Tots rooms serve as a transition to the next room where the true toddler action happens.  These lucky Tiny Tots teachers (Parker's are Lindsey & Emily) get to help these kiddos switch to one nap, move from breastmilk/formula to cow's milk, banish the bottle for sippy cups, sit at table instead of high chair, eliminate the pacifier, and finally learn to sleep on a cot rather than crib!  When all of this happens (oh and the walking), they get to move up again, usually around 16 months in age.  We were lucky that both the Infants & Tiny Tots rooms were not too full and allowed her teachers to get in lots of transition time.  Parker started hanging out in the Tiny Tots room a month ago, but her current teacher, Michele, stayed with her the whole time.  Then she would leave her there with the new teachers for an hour or so.  Then add in a meal time, then a nap time, etc.  The transition was done so well that Parker didn't blink an eye when I dropped her off there for the first time this morning.  Some pictures emailed from her new teachers:

She is the youngest one in her current room and therefore the only one who has not mastered the walking.  That's right, still no walking on her own.  Parker LOVES to walk around holding someone's fingers or more recently, just one finger.  The times when you let go usually result in a mini-tantrum, which means sit down, lean forward with face on the ground and let out a some yells or cries.  The tantrums don't last long, usually 10 seconds, but boy, does she let you know she does not like the recent development.  With this week surrounded by kids who walk and this weekend's trip to St. Louis with lots of quality time with walker-cousin Charlie, we think the walking is close at hand.  In fact, we have seen Parker sneak in a couple errant steps on her own, so we think she just lacks the confidence.

In just the past week, Parker has really started babbling in her own little language.  She points and looks at you with an expression of "don't you understand what I'm sayin'?".  She also officially says Mama when she sees me or crawls towards me.  Of course, I love that.  She does say Dada too, but not as often.  A couple videos demonstrating Parker's "talking":

Parker is still a good eater, but not quite the bottomless pit she once was.  She throws some food on the ground, sometimes when she is full or sometimes just because she wants to hook Otis up.  Because her new classroom eats breakfast/morning snack together at 9:00 am, we switched our morning routine and she eats breakfast at home (usually some combination of oatmeal, bluberries, & greek yogurt).  This was in place of the 7 oz bottle she used to get at home.  Instead, we give her 4-5 oz of formula in her sippy cup in the car on the way to school.  Then she gets a morning snack of fruit at the table with all the other kids.  Parker loves her sippy cup and drinks a lot of water out of it lately.  Who knew they have stages for sippy cups??  Currently, she is using a "sport sipper".  The next step is a cup with built in straw, but previous attemps have been unsuccessful.

Some other fun tidbits: 

• She always laughs after she sneezes 
• She scrunches up her nose and does a little snort type noise that I seem to remember her cousin Clare doing at this same age (I have yet to capture that on video)
• She loves it when we dance with her and is even starting to do a little bouncing on her own when a toy plays music
• Her favorite type of play is just to put things in and take them out of any given container
• She still loves to be in her stroller and is always happy to go for a walk