The Cummings Family: Staying "PAW"sitive: Maryn is 11 months old!

We are a week behind in posting because we are having so much fun! This past month has been jam packed with trips to meet new friends, Kindermusik and Gymboree classes (pics to follow from these!), celebrating Grandma and Poppop's birthdays and learning soooo many new tricks! It seems like last month was a motor skill month for Maryn, she learned to walk and climb the stairs....and this month we have seen a huge cognitive growth in her. Every single day she learns something new!! Every day! Imagine what's going on in these tiny little brains every minute...it's amazing that she can sleep 12 1/2 straight hours without waking up from the incessant brain activity. She is communicating with us better than I ever imagined an 11 month old could. I started using several sign language signs with her a couple months ago and they all seemed to 'click' for her this month and she can now tell us when she wants more, when she's all done and when she wants to read a book. When I was pregnant, I prayed that she wouldn't be a picky eater, because Lord knows that Mac is, and out of pure laziness, I didn't want to fight that battle. Well, prayers were answered....we've got a little 'Miss Piggie' on our hands...she will eat ANYTHING I offer her, it's insane....hence the reason why she learned to sign 'more'! Now we need to work on 'please' and 'thank you'...I'm raising a Southern lady and manners are a must down here. Pretty soon she's going to be throwing so many signs in the air I won't be able to keep up with them! She's a much quicker learner than I :) She's still walking across the room but definitely falls several times a day. She absolutely adores any and all music. If she's in a crabby mood or crying for some unknown reason...I start to sing and the crying stops and she starts dancing. Still no teeth! Has anyone ever seen a one year old without teeth? I'm seriously considering taking her to the dentist to see if she actually has any. She gives her 'babies' (any doll or stuffed animal) kisses and hugs aaaalllll daaayyy loonnnggg! She has a sweet, nurturing and almost motherly nature about her. When we're at Gymboree and all the babies are sitting in a circle playing with toys from the 'busy box', she always reaches out her toys to share with the other babies. And just today, I was babysitting Ashton who is 5 months old, she started to cry and Maryn started rubbing her arm with a concerned look on her face and looked to me to make her stop...just adorable!

My sweet delicious Mare Mare

Spring has sprung and flowers are the theme for the big event next month!

Serious Maryn

She has also learned several body parts and can point to her head, ears and toes when we ask her where they are! Serious cognitive growth this month, people!

All gums!!!! I secretly love that she doesn't have any teeth because it sort of means that she's still a baby and not almost a toddler!!!!!! And don't let this gummy smile fool you...she can pack in some shredded chicken/turkey/beef, chopped cooked carrots and broccoli, pasta, bread...the list goes on!

Her fuzz is finally long enough to wear her bows pulled to the side...

...but unfortunately, after 11 months, she's figured out that they're there...but always kindly hands them to me...

...she actually hands me everything she takes off or out that she knows she's not suppose to! I guess that's better than hiding them in the cracks of the sofa or behind her crib.

My friend copied and laminated some common signs and let me borrow them. I have since taped them above her highchair so that we can really focus on communicating better with our little cognitive sponge! It was funny, my friend Laura was watching Maryn at our house for a couple hours and she said that at lunch, Maryn kept signing for more and more Cheerios, yes she's a pig, and then all of sudden Laura thought she was waving hi to her, so Laura started waving back...then she looked up at the pictures and realized that Maryn was signing 'all done'! Children are so much fun:)

See, .....she's signing for 'more' bananas but I was too busy taking pictures and she got frustrated that I wasn't listening....excuuuse me, Miss Maryn!