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Tonight she goes to sleep a baby, tomorrow she wakes up 1!

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This girl loves to try new foods and often eats more than Ewan. Although, her teachers say she doesn't like the things we know she loves at home, so maybe there is some picky in there! This week Darby decided mama wasn't moving fast enough with the yogurt, I had walked away to help Ewan with something, and came back to our girl eating her yogurt all by herself. Messy yes, but still effective.

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Darby enjoyed her first Easter! The big winners in her basic were the yogurt squeezies, her death grip on them is evidenced in this week's photo. She was more in to the egg hunt than we anticipated, she enjoyed finding a few of the more obvious ones and then watching her bro hunt. We had a very nice day together and spent the morning at the de Young and the Academy of Sciences... this is what we did last year as well, when Darby was in my belly, just 5 days from eviction, so we are calling it our Easter tradition!

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My goal was no travel until this girl was 1, I almost made it! Had the weirdest business trip on a cruise ship (aka the Dream Boat) and had to spend a lot of time, and hand gestures, explaining breast pump and breast milk in 3 different countries, but none the less I survived... and Darby obviously did too. She loves climbing in to the duplo bin and throwing bricks out, no building yet, but she sure kept her daddy on his toes.

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Dear Darby,

It may seem weird that I am writing you an 11-month letter. Seems like an odd number even to me, but I am writing this because I feel like I lost my baby this last month, and my last baby at that. 

All of a sudden in your 11th month you decided you mean business. You got your 8th tooth and became a real girl! You clap, you wave, you dance, and you walk! At 10.5 months you started taking a few steps and then this past weekend it all clicked - you are walking twenty steps at a time, meticulously keeping your balance, and going from sitting to standing without support from anything. You can't quite keep up with your brother but you are trying. 

You sleep like a champion and eat like a maniac, probably because of all the moving you are doing. If you want what we are eating you wil squeal in our face until we quickly give you a bit to quiet you down. Your cutest habit these days is grunting, and if we grunt at you your response is a huge smile with a huge grunt to match. 

You still give your smiles away for free and the staff at your school are genuinely sad when they don't get to spend any time with you. We miss you all day and love to play with you at night and to see your smiles in the morning. Please do your best to slow this next month down, mama needs this one. 

XO,

Mama

Darby Moira - 11 Months

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Darby and Ewan have started to play together for long stretches of time --- peek-a-boo full of fits of laughter, silly goose tickles, and games of chase. The sudden shift from baby to toddler has taken over and evenings these days are delightful. 

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It seems Darby was feeling a bit outshined by her big brother Ewan's 3rd birthday. At 10 months and 13 days she started to walk, 2 then 3 then 4 steps!

She also got pinkeye and an ear infection, but neither slowed her down! The baby is gone and the toddling is on. 

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Aloha from Hawaii! Two pictures are required this week --- one to show Darby's love of the beach (sand is such a great snack), and the second to show that this lady and her brother have reached a whole new level of love that must be documented.

We spent 8 days in Kauai, and while the sun may not have been its brightest it was an amazing week!

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So much learning this month! Darby started doing hand gestures to some of our favorite songs, explored a ton of new foods, climbed on the couch (and everything else), and got 3 new teeth.

We all guessed she would be walking by 10 months but no free-standing steps just yet, it does seem imminent and this teaser is definitely aware that we are waiting. 

Hard to believe this girl only has 2 months left of babyhood!

Darby Moira @ 10 Months

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Adding to Darby's new skills this week she started doing twinkling hands when we sing "twinkle twinkle little star" and clapping along to "if you're happy and you know it." She also got her 6th (bottom second right) and 7th (top second left) tooth with out much complaining at all! This baby is becoming a real girl very rapidly, learning something new every day.

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Time seems to be going so quickly, and this girl is learning new things at an amazing rate. Darby started waving, clapping, and playing peek-a-boo this week. She also climbed on the couch all by herself!

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This week Darby's fifth tooth (the bottom, second on the left) came through. She didn't mind one bit! She is spending her time standing and doing squats, teasing us as we await her first steps.

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Oh Baby Lady,

This week you have officially been in the real world longer than you were in my belly. 9 months have passed since you joined us and I truly can't imagine the world without you! 

I sometimes worry you are your brother's best accessory as his activities and desires rule our days a bit more than yours, but you seem 100% ok with it. And, truth be told, I think you are in the process of planning your revolt. When he is being a little too rough, or taking your toys, or not sharing his snacks you tell him so with very loud screeches and face grabs. He loves you so emphatically it sometimes seems like he might suffocate you and now you tell him so, but you also watch with bright concerned eyes anytime he leaves a room and laugh hysterically at all of his jokes even though you can't possibly understand them, can you?

You are as easy going as ever, I have no idea how we got so lucky! Your Grampy came to visit this last weekend and multiple times he said, "is this how she always is? She is so good." The simple answer is yes, and in reality you were grumpy about the shot you got an hour before he arrived, so his mind would be even more blown on our average day. 

Your pediatrician continues to be amazed by you, you are sweet and strong. This visit you weighed in at 20lbs 15.3ozs (88%) and measured 28 inches (66%)... I am still a little worried by how short you are, but he assured me all looked good. Although I am considering having him pull my height curve to compare. 

Short or not you are ours and we simply adore every smile, every roll, and all things Darby Moira!

Kisses,

Mama

Darby Moira - 9 Months

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No more bath seat. Just this girl, the bubbles, and a wide open tub. Although truth be told, it seemed like she missed her brother during this solo bath.

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This smiley lady rules our world. Time goes quickly, her smiles get bigger, and we grasp on to memories of her at 8.5 months!

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And just like that she said, "dada!" And he was even more wrapped around her chubby little finger.

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After our Christmas celebration wrapped up we headed down to Southern California for a few days. Darby took her first flight (SFO to LAX), visited her Grammie's house in Camarillo, met her Great Grammie and Great Roy, went to Disneyland and California Adventure, and explored LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits. She was an amazing traveler, loved the visual excitement of all that we explored, and once again proved that she is a champ of a baby. For Darby's first day at Disney she was dressed in all of her Minnie gear, including a great skirt from her Grammie, which is seen in this week's photo. On her second day she wore a simple lavender Juicy sweatsuit as she did not want to do the polkadots better than Minnie when they met at breakfast, that would just be embarrassing for Minnie.

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An 8 month Darby is 20 pounds 4 ounces and 27.5 inches. She picks food up, her own and her friends, and puts it in her mouth. She crawls at an amazingly quick pace and cruises from couch, to coffee table, to chair, to a parent's leg with out so much as pausing. She is deeply loved by her family, especially her brother, and is a super strong chick when he is a little too rough. From everything we can tell she is busily devising her plan to kick his butt the minute she is able. Her teachers think she will walk by 9 months, but Mama is in denial, and will only accept 10 as an option... we shall see. Today she celebrated her first Christmas, while she did not love Santa when she met him, she did adore the holiday - she received a crawling tunnel from Santa and loved ripping the paper from each of her gifts.

Darby Moira - 8 Months

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Growing so quickly and becoming more participative in classroom activities. Darby and her friends do fun stuff at school, largely to help them explore their senses, and one of our favorites to see is naked baby painting... so cute and it is always fun to find paint behind knees and between toes. 

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This girl has decided she has no physical limits as evidenced by a bruise on her face that she got while trying walk. Yes, walk! This week she moved to crawling on all fours, no more army crawl, pulling up on anything remotely stable, cruising a few feet in each direction, and standing with no hands... I repeat no hands. Someone needs to remind baby lady that  she is only 7.5 months old.