Always Raney: Violet at Eleven Months

Another month of lots of discoveries for my little darling! Violet continues to grow and learn each day. This month's biggest development is that she is walking! She has been standing for a while now and walking with the help of walker toys or the couch, but not she goes off on her own and can walk about half of a room with confidence.

This past Sunday celebrates two weeks of Violet staying in the nursery the entire church service. May not seem like a big deal, but it is to her Mama who gets to listen to the entire sermon instead of 1/2 or 3/4 of it. She enjoys watching other children and LOVES dogs. Tim thinks this will eventually convince me to get a dog, but the idea of having to clean up the waste of another live thing is appalling at this point.

We continue to settle into our "new" home, and love the way the Lord has allowed us to make it our own. Violet and I have been very thankful to stay at home during the last couple weeks of cold weather and snow. I am grateful every day for the ability and opportunity to do my job from home. Violet has learned to play on her own and entertain herself for the most part. You may think we have a lot of toys, but toys are a necessary part of her rotation throughout the day when there are no other means of busy-ness.

Violet has taken to using a sipper cup for water during the day, but still uses bottles as well. She has started the horrific habit of grinding teeth, which is cringe-worthy. She somehow managed to chip her front tooth in the grinding process, which led us to her first dentist appointment (today). The tooth has no exposed nerve and is a strictly cosmetic defect. She is still the cutest little thing that I ever did see, chip and all. I thank God that the only thing "wrong" with my child is a tiny chip on her tooth!

This month we are looking forward to her first Thanksgiving and I can't bring myself to admit that her 1st birthday is just one month away. This little girl has absolutely and incomparably stolen our hearts.