Martha at 11 months

Hello everyone,
Martha's becoming more engaging every day, and seems to be on the verge of so many firsts! It's a funny feeling to watch her these days because we're so eager to see her grow and learn but at the same time it would be wonderful to be with her at this stage forever. Sometimes her thinking is visible on her face as she strains over some difficult conundrum, such as, how can I pick up the little puppet bunny and hold on to Mummy's fingers at the same time? Aside from such philosophical ponderings, Martha's more obvious steps forward this month have been in the form of steps...not necessarily forward, as you will note in some of the footage (somebody stop me!) below.
Martha continues to enjoy being admired by lots of different people (such as Cousin-in-law Matthias, pictured here on the occasion of a fondue supper at his house),

and has so far not developed any noticeable stranger anxiety. At the same time, she is definitely more attached to Mummy and Daddy, and even deigns to cuddle with us when she's tired. She still loves to play peek-a-boo, particularly a new variation in which a small object is secreted in a parent's hand and she has to guess which hand. To our consternation (and hers presumably) even when she's observed the object being enclosed in the left hand she invariably chooses the right. Another of Martha's favorite pasttimes is eating. She's able to munch soft bits of food now, using her gums to get through broccoli stems and bits of chicken.

Her repertoire of sounds has increased, but 'd' remains her favorite consonant, with 'g' and 'b' creeping up. She is very expressive and at times seems ready to explode with happiness, especially right after napping or eating. However, Martha's favorite activity continues to be pulling herself up to standing and (attempting to) walk, using any available support.

Here she is with Adrian trundling along outside...




We take our daughter out whenever we can, and recently enjoyed a visit to the Berkeley Marina.


International friends, if Martha's not enough advertisement to come and visit, how about this for a scenic view?



Right, so on to the animated portion of our show.

Martha demonstrates walking with the support of our sofas.


With tremendous glee and pride, here she comes, using a wagon purchased at the Oakland Museum White Elephant sale.


And again, outdoors, on one of our first spring days.


After expending so much energy, our Martha likes to replenish herself with some finger foods. Lately she's been trying out toast and banana on her own. She makes quite a mess but I've convinced Adrian to relax and not feel he has to sweep up right away.



Be sure to tune in next month, for news of the big first birthday bash!