Eleven months

So she doesn't really crawl yet, but is there anything new with Laurel now that she is eleven months old?

Oh yes, there have been many developments! She's making up for all the months when she just sat there peacefully and held stuff in her hands.

Laurel got her first tooth at nine months, you may recall, and another one about three weeks after that. (Those were the two bottom front teeth.) But now she is getting four teeth on the top. Three of them have broken the surface simultaneously. Isn't that taking it a bit too quickly? This is emblematic of her development this month, actually.

She started scooting on her bottom at ten months, so slowly and gradually that I could still leave her briefly unattended and expect to find her in about the same place when I returned. But now not only is she beginning to scoot more confidently and quickly, she is doing it to explore instead of simply to reach the items I had purposefully left on the floor close to her. Now she wants to see what else is available. Her big favorites? Anything she is strictly forbidden to have: books, paper, pens, electrical outlets, chargers, cords.

How does she know these items are forbidden? Because she understands the word "no." When she hears me say it, she looks at me over her shoulder, cackles mischievously, and speeds up! It's funny to watch her scoot frantically toward the forbidden object, especially because she makes zero progress when she hurries; she's like a cartoon dog trying to get traction on ice. It's funny for now, I should clarify. Unlike Isaac, Laurel doesn't seem worried by my rebuke, only inspired to greater deeds of disobedience, and I wonder if this is a signifier of her temperament.

But I'm so excited to finally be figuring out the words she understands! So far I've got "no" and "uh-uh" and "That's not for you." Her vocabulary is worrisome! Well, she has known her name for many months, and she also turns toward me when I say "look!" My assumption is that she understands many more words, but it's hard to know exactly what the words are because she isn't that eager to communicate. Unlike Isaac at this age, when I quiz Laurel she doesn't bother to respond; for example, she doesn't point out items she recognizes in books. When I ask, "Where's Isaac?" she doesn't look at him; but on the other hand, sometimes when I'm talking about him when he isn't home, she looks around for him in puzzlement.

Laurel has never been a big talker; her brief flirtation with saying "Mama" at seven months didn't last. But she's begun babbling a lot now, including "mama," although it's still perhaps not directed at me. And she's just begun to jabber. Tonight at dinner she turned to Craig, uttered several distinct sentences of utter nonsense complete with vehement hand gestures, and then paused for his response.

Best development of all? She has rediscovered her thumb. With its help, the child once again sleeps through the night.