Parkes Ranch: June 2012

Estella and Cordelia have grown so much in the past month, it is hard to believe how big they are getting (and hard to keep up with them!). They are now eleven months old and on the very cusp of transitioning from babies to toddlers. Just one month ago neither of the girls could hands-and-knees crawl and they had just begun pulling themselves to a standing position and playing games like "clap" and "peek-a-boo." Now, they are both crawling everywhere and playing games, Estella is standing independently, and Cordelia is climbing onto everything!

Estella and Cordelia on their eleven-month birthday

Here is a series of pictures to see how much our little girls have grown in the past eleven months.

Estella, one month old

Estella, three months old

Estella, five months old

Estella, seven months old

Estella, nine months old

Estella is now eleven months old and can't wait to walk! She stands up every chance she gets and then, once she is standing next to someone or something, lets go. She can stand for several seconds by herself, then inevitably falls to the ground, only to stand up and do it again. The look on her face when she is standing by herself is so adorable -- you can see the pride just radiating from her! Estella only recently started babbling, but now loves the sound of her own voice. And if her big sister is anywhere nearby, Estella will follow Adelaida around, trying to do everything Adelaida is doing.

Cordelia, one month old

Cordelia, three months old

Cordelia, five months old

Cordelia, seven months old

Cordelia, nine months old

At eleven months old, Cordelia is a climber. Over the past month, her favorite thing to climb onto has been the bottom shelf of the changing table. She climbs up, climbs down, climbs up, climbs down -- over and over again! And recently she has discovered the stairs. We put a foam play mat on the tile at the bottom of the stairs so that she won't hit her head on the tile when she falls, and we have had many occasions to be thankful that the foam mat is there. We are trying to teach her to go down the stairs, but more often she climbs up a few steps, then sits down on the stairs and that's when she falls. Cordelia is a very loving child and likes to lay her head down on our shoulders, being "sweet." She stands up at furniture and takes a few steps while holding on to furniture, but isn't quire ready to walk by herself yet.