Today is a BIG day. Libby turned 11 months and I woke up incredibly sad about that! I just grieved over all the months I didn't have her with me and grieved over how fast she's growing up. I kept thinking "she can't be this close to being a year old - she just can't be". Oh, But she is! Ironically, even though I was sad about that I also found myself stressed about how little progress it seemed she was making when it comes to eating foods with texture and baby sign language, etc. I have been reading a book that describes all the milestones she should be hitting around this age and I just felt overwhelmed because she wasn't doing most of those things. She's not rolling a ball back to me, she's not eating foods with texture, she needs to be familiar with a sippy cup, etc. I've been working on baby sign language for a solid month and she absolutely refuses to do all the signs except "all done" at the end of her bottle and "bye bye" (when she feels like it). Okay - so.... I talked with my sister and my sister-in-law and they reassured me that every baby is different and I'm doing everything right.  THEN... this evening I put a few puffs in front of Libby and a sippy cup. I started feeding Libby the puffs and she started eating them with no problem - she didn't gag or anything. She also took a few sips of the sippy cup. AND THEN... I looked away for a second and when I turned back Libby was feeding herself the puffs!! YAHOO! PROGRESS!! How sweet!

Speaking of progress - Libby is now crazy about climbing stairs. She's never even approached the stairs before so I haven't been keeping the gate closed. I got busy doing something and the next thing I knew Libby was half way up the stairs. I got a picture of her first climb - see photos below.

Now - for those of you who have so generously prayed over our travels with Libby - THANK YOU! And here's the scoop. Libby is such a trooper. She is definately more active these days so flying on a plane is - well - interesting. But other than that she has done VERY WELL! Our first trip was to NC for a youth conference in Lumberton. The event went very well and the church really took care of us. They had a nursery room just for Libby and a pack-and-play was set up. It was very sweet of them. My whole family drove up from SC to see Libby for the first time. Libby seemed to enjoy every one of them and they all got to hold her and play with her. Gigi (my mom) even got to feed her. We enjoyed visiting with them so much. It was a great trip.

That was a five day trip. We were then home for 2 days before flying out again. This time - to Delaware. We did a college event there. Libby really cried at the beginning of the flights, but she then settled down. The first day was a little hectic. We had to wake Libby early in the morning. The taxi picked us up at 6:30 am. We flew to Baltimore and then had a 2 hour drive to the retreat center. (The retreat center was beautiful! Right on the Chessapeak Bay!) By the time we arrived we only had 2 hours to set up, have a sound check and get Libby settled in. The people who invited us graciously provided a caretaker for Libby. Her name was Jaime and she was wonderful with Libby. Poor Libby had serious seperation anxiety and cried everytime I left her. The last night she even refused to take a bottle and just cried herself to sleep. I came in to check on her between sets and had to wake her so she could have her bedtime bottle. She drank it and went back to sleep - WHEW! That's really the tough part for her, but one of these days she's going to realize that mommy always comes back. I just hope she comes to that realization soon.

So, other than plane rides and seperation anxiety Libby is a good little traveler. She loves people and she's very content and such an easy baby. We adore every second with her! She's such a blessing. She adds to what we're doing on the road in so many ways.  She just adds this great dimension of "real life" that makes us more real to the people we meet. We're no longer that couple on stage - we're that family toting around a 20 pound diaper bag and wearing spit up.

So, that's October for you.

Until next month....

Love,

The Foote Gang