One Month Till One

I don't mean to start out every milestone post with the phrase, "it's hard to believe," but it's hard not to say that. Haley is eleven months old today. I cannot quite grasp that she will be a year in another month. I only have a few minutes, so pictures will make the majority of this post.
One of Haley's favorite hangouts--the laundry room. She gets to play with shoes and watch clothes spin. What more could a baby want? She'll spend tens of minutes there (this is a lot for Haley).

Haley signs "more." She started doing this a few weeks ago by clapping, but has since learned the correct way to sign it. Today, when she watched this video, she began signing it again, over and over (hearing us on the video say, "Can you say "more," Haley?")

Ruby tried her hand at feeding Haley for the first time the other day. It was a very exciting milestone for Ruby. She's been looking forward to the privilege for months. Notice Ruby's open mouth, too!

Every time I've turned on Haley's aquarium lately, the volume is on full-blast. I kept wondering why and how the older girls could turn it up so often. The other day I walked in and saw this. I didn't realize she could reach it, or knew what the buttons and dials did. She does love pushing buttons. . .

Speaking of which, she has been pushing our buttons lately. Seriously, this girl can yell. Some of you know that sound that Claire has been known to make (loud, irritated, grunt-like squealing). Well, Haley's now the proud owner of that sound (thankfully, Claire rarely makes it nowadays).

I don't know if it is teething or what, but Haley has had a total personality makover since about 8-9 months. And not in a good way. Don't let these pictures fool you. She is an angry baby, and whines and cries to be held (usually following me around the kitchen, pulling up on my legs, screaming if I get away from her or put her down). Where has my contented baby gone, and when will I get her back? I don't know how much longer I can handle this tremendous neediness!

The below picture in no way shows how this plays out. She's happy here. Don't know how it ended here, but my guess is that after I took this picture, I either picked her up, or she screamed as I tried to move around without picking her up.

Haley is also the first of our babies to be a "Mama's girl" or go through a clingy, "I-don't-go-to-others" stage. Having experienced this for the last couple months, I am so grateful we haven't dealt with it with the other girls. Wow. It's sweet sometimes, but mostly stressful and restricting.

Another of Haley's favorite places: the girls' playroom (a closet under the stairs). She'll often join them in there, but lately has retreated there on her own, too. Here she is, cooking up something great.

Playing coy with her daddy.

Sweet girl. We love you bunches. Even when you drive us mad.