11 months old!

Ruby is 11 months old today! I can hardly believe it. She is constantly amazing us now - to the point that we're speechless. This video was shot about a month ago. She had just woken up and nursed. I was in the kitchen making our breakfast & she was reading books to herself. I heard her giggling & grabbed the camera. She was finding animals she liked in her farm book & laughing at them. Now she is really communicating with us. We can ask her, "Where is the dog?" and she will find a picture of a dog & point to it. Same with cat, mama, dada, baby and now many of her toys too. She can tell you where her belly, feet, and head/hair are too! She has said mama & dada, but its still pretty rare.
Her favorite book to read lately is The Backward Day by Ruth Krauss. We checked it out at the library and Ruby laughs at it as we read it. Somehow, she knows its funny. I'm really loving Ruth Krauss' books lately too. I don't think we own any, so I keep going to the library searching for them.
Ruby is also on the verge of taking her first step. She cruises around the furniture and can stand by herself for quite a while. She's just working up the confidence. Yesterday in her crib she stood up, let go of the side with her arms out for balance & would make herself wobble until she fell which she thought was really funny. Then she'd do it over again.
I think our favorite Ruby development is her wanting to cuddle so much more. John says that she has figured out that it feels good and searches it out. She'll sometimes just crawl up to us for a hug or snuggle. We LOVE this. I swear I can feel my heart expand every time she does it. I cannot get enough of her hugs and kisses.
After my mom knew I was pregnant, she said many times to me, "I'm so excited for you." I remember thinking, "parenthood must be better than I can imagine if she's more excited for me than for herself to become a grandmother." Now I know why she said that. John & I are so grateful to be Ruby's parents. She is so much more fun and wonderful than I dreamed possible.