11 months - the toddling toddler

baby is officially a toddler now! it's really cute how she toddles along with tiny steps all over the house ... from the living room all the way to the kitchen. that's how steady she is with her walking. she seems to enjoy being able to walk, as she always pushes herself up to walk rather than crawl nowadays. thankfully being carried still is her preferred mode of transport, so i don't yet have to deal with a wriggly baby trying to get out of my arms so that she can do her own walking and exploring. last night was really a taste of what some other parents probably go through on a daily basis - baby decided she would not sleep even though it was WAY past her bedtime. she was more content playing and crawling about in the dark (with lights off) than to sleep. yes, my little night owl for a day. she ended up sleeping at 11pm after YET another bottle of milk (that's 14oz of milk before bedtime in total!). i hope that her sudden late night alertness had to do with the fact that she had a long afternoon nap that ended at 6pm, and that this is a one-off event. i can only have kids that sleep by 8pm for 12 hours or more. i don't think i have it in me to handle kids that don't love their nighttime sleep. i'd be a very cranky person if so.