11 Months Old (October 1998)

Here's Taylor, always presenting a great face for a picture. Don't think we'll have any problems with her for school photos. Taylor is about 18 pounds now, and is standing on her own, although she prefers sitting (at least until she's put to bed, then she seems to prefer standing in her crib) :-) Taylor is now up to four teeth I believe, two on top and two on the bottom.

Matthew is really getting big for a kid that started out at 3 and 1/2 pounds less than a year ago. The one time we can guarantee he won't be too fussy is during a meal. With all of seven teeth now, who can blame him? He's in at around 21 pounds now, can stand if he wants to (I stress *wants*). I remember thinking, 'Now where did THAT come from?' We've been working so much getting Amanda to walk (she showed the most interest) and here he just 'up-and-does-it.' Typical. His vocabulary has remained small (yet no less vocal, heh). Only recently has he relented with a Da-Da or so.

Amanda always just has that knowing look of sweetness. She's doing quite well also. She'll stand, although she prefers to keep moving by crawling (maybe she's just going with what works for now). She's about 19 pounds now, and has also started with her vocabulary building (Da-da, cat, etc.). No longer the 'toothless wonder', as we so fondly referred to her, she now has I believe two teeth on the bottom, both within the last two weeks. She took her first steps recently, showed them off while on our trip, and now can handle about 5 or 6 in a row.

Sam is still a jovial child, heavily outgoing. The poor thing wasn't feeling too good on picture day (she was the last in a series of bug-ridden children....Oy! Schoolyard cooties will be SO much fun), but she made an effort. She had also recently gotten another tooth, so it's been a tough month for her. I believe she's up to three now, maybe four (she's sleeping, and I won't wake her up to check...no, not even for you) Sam has a great sense of balance; I'm convinced she can stand all day long if she wanted to. She's a little reluctant to take that to the next level with the concept of forward motion, but I don't think it'll be long now. She's a good eater too, weighing at 21 pounds.