Opal at 11 Months

It's amazing how much a baby grows in one month, and this month was no exception for Opal.  She is cruising the furniture, and crawling everywhere.  It has been challenging to take Opal out in public these last couple of months as I don't like her crawling on the floor of public places.  Of course this is all she wants to do though.  We lucked out the other day at church when I found the small chapel had a freshly vacuumed rug.  Opal was happy to crawl around on it while I listened to the service in the main church through the doorway.

 You could say allowing her to crawl in public places is immunity building, but lawn chemicals and toxic floor chemicals do nothing to support a healthy immune system, and that is the reality of floors in public places these days.  Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa's house is a safe crawl zone, and they even have carpeted stairs, unlike our own house.  Opal can now climb stairs like a pro, making it very important for us to remember to close the baby gates when we go up or down stairs.

Playing outside is difficult too when you can't walk yet and there is a lot of snow and ice all over the ground.  At this point in the winter, Opal almost tolerates her snowsuit.  Almost.

She does love her little sled though!  Her sisters fight over whose turn it is to pull her in it.  It's so adorable to watch her, she's like a little princess riding in a chariot.

Her sisters definitely spoil her.  In the below photos, Opal is enjoying a play house that her sisters made.  It was not created for the entertainment of Opal, but once the girls saw how much Opal loved it, they couldn't refuse her advances.

Even after almost a year of having a little sister,  the big sisters have not grown tired of their real life baby doll.

Opal has discovered that she can reach the keys of our piano, which is so cute until her older sisters can't practice the piano because Opal is "piano bombing" their songs.

Right now there is no free horizontal space, as anything and everything that Opal can get into we have put up high.  This includes wastebaskets, toys, choking hazards, paper, books, and anything else that Opal could get hurt on, or destroy.  Here she is below, playing.

The girls and I made Opal some arrowroot teething biscuits this past month, which Opal loved.  Of course her sisters loved them too, so Opal only got to enjoy a few of them before they were all gone.  Opal now eats three meals a day with us, and after each meal, can be found under the table looking for her dessert.

 Opal claps now, does a cute pow wow with the back of her hand on her mouth, smiles for photos, and enjoys reading a book in my lap as she can now turn the pages herself.  In fact, most of the "reading" is her just methodically turning the pages, over and over again.  She now says phrases, which include "Hi Dadda," "Hi Mama," and "Bye Bye Baby."  She refers to herself as Baby, and any other kid she sees is also a baby.  The best is when she wants something out of her reach she will yell, "Baby!" As in, give that to the baby, now!

She is so very lovable, and I can hardly believe we've been enjoying our Opal for almost a year!