Mini Bunches: 11 Months

Every month goes so fast that it’s getting hard to keep track of exactly what Mini Bunches was up to during each one.  Thank goodness for my camera, and for my journal.

Yet again, Mini B logged some travel miles during her 11th month, but this time it was closer to home.  She wrapped up her trip to Florida, and returned home a little bit chunkier than she left (you know how those vacation pounds can be–they just creep up on you!) . . .

And since it was still cold in mid-April, we decided to embarrass dress up our little girl . . .

Mini B took her first visit to the Buffalo Zoo, but since it was freezing and raining out, we spent most of our time indoors in the rain forest exhibit.  She liked it, but wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it.

Luckily, our second trip later in the month was much warmer.  She would’ve been happy if we had put her in the pens with the animals–she loved them.

Now that Mini B has become much more mobile, she’s less content to play in her exer-saucer.  Sigh.  So this was one of her last times enjoying the beloved toy (from the inside at least; she still loves to climb on it, but will no longer willingly sit in it).

She finally mastered drinking from a sippy cup on her own.  And then smashing it to the ground.  Awesome.

One of her favorite times of day is story time with Dad.  I love this little tradition–every night before bed, he reads her stories.  She can’t get enough.

We discovered our new favorite breakfast joint: Sophia’s (which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives).  Hands-down the best breakfast we’ve found.

Now that Mini B was 11 months old, we thought it was time to prepare her for the inevitable: Zombie Attacks.  She took it well.

As part of her training, Mini B spent some time in the grass.  Her first time in the grass to be exact.  She was not a fan.  Not even the promise of an iPhone could get her to crawl in it.  Not sure how this bodes for her ability to escape zombies . . .

At the end of her 11th month, we spent a week in Ithaca, NY.  

Which is kind of hard to tell since most of the pictures are of Mini B destroying the hotel room.  But I promise that we did go outside; it’s just that the camera didn’t often come with us . . . 

I think we need to invest in some floor-to-ceiling windows.

Her 11 month marked our first Mother’s Day together (well, not technically, but we celebrated it a little early).  She picked the sheep ornament all on her own, but Dad helped with the jewelry decisions.

Love her.  Best Mother’s Day ever.

Then we decided to take Mini B on her first college tour (you can never start too early, right?).  We thought about setting up an admissions interview, but thought that might be pushing it.  The good news is that she really seemed to like Cornell, so we’ll have to keep that one on the list ;).

She wanted my froyo in the WORST way.  Mean mom.

A room full of toys and she has to play with the lens cap.

So there you have it–Mini B’s 11th month.  Now to plan for her big birthday (which obviously has already happened, duh, but in keeping with the delayed timeline of this blog, it’s still in the future).  Here’s a shot from her invitation photo shoot . . . gotta love that hair.

And here are the invitations (designed in Photoshop and printed on postcards from Winkflash, with some extra bits sewn on by me).  Obviously, some details have been hidden on these, but you get the idea . . .