11 Months

 My dear, dear, sweet little boy, as you can see you are getting busier & busier as is our life with you! I guess that's why your momma is almost two weeks late in writing this blog. You are 11.5 months now with a little over two weeks left until you turn 1!!

This last month has been a wild one. You are becoming more & more mobile, but still seem to have no interest in walking on your own yet. You'll cruise around more & you'll rarely stand on your own without holding on to something (you are still VERY careful to make sure these things are safe, you know). You also love to walk if we are holding your hands, but you still won't use your new push toy that momma got you in hopes of encouraging you. You do, however, crawl so fast & climb so well that it scares me a little. It's been a challenge this month keeping you away from our staircase.

 You are a total daredevil & have absolutely NO fear. You would literally crawl right over the edge of ANYTHING if we let you. You still haven't quite figured out that getting off of things feet first would be the smartest method. You'll get there soon, I'm sure.

You are babbling up a storm this month. And believe it or not, your first word besides Momma & Dadda was Doggie. You say it ALL THE TIME. You are also working really hard on Kitty, Key & Kiss. Right now they are pretty indistinguishable from each other, but you definitely know what they mean. You also have the words "Yay" & "Yeah" down pat. Your favorite thing to babble to date though is still "Gagagagagaga" you will literally say this ALL DAY LONG. You also babble Nananana a lot, but we have no idea what it means. Unfortunately, you still refuse to use the baby sign we try to teach you & will shout or scream or point to indicate that you want or need something. Again, we'll keep working on it. I definitely know it's not a brains thing because you are one of the smartest kids I know! You may not always be able to tell us what you want, but you certainly know what enough words mean.

 You for sure know food, milk, outside, bath time, bear, & will follow simple commands including "nah-uh-uh" or "look at me."

Your loves still include bath time or any water related activity. These are your favorite things ABOVE ALL ELSE! We bought you a water table for your birthday, but gave it to you early & although it's supposed to be for ages 2+ we have no regrets! You absolutely adore that thing as well as your little plastic baby pool. You are definitely my little water baby.

Your other favorite toys consist of anything that spins, but you can not get enough of pinwheels right now. You seriously think that pinwheels are the best thing since sliced bread. =) No matter how upset you are or grumpy, a pinwheel will ALWAYS brighten up your day.

You have 8 teeth now, kid! Two more on top & two more on bottom all worked their way in at the same time. Needless to say, you were a mess for a week or so & we are all glad that's over for now.

We're still nursing, but you've cut it down to 3-4 sessions daily on average going about 5-6 hours in-between. You still are going 10-12 hours overnight. You are still well with solids & can be picky at times, but will usually eat anything & everything we give you. You love drinking out of your straw sippy & still continue to have water only.

Sleep is going pretty well these days for the most part & you continue to STTN. You are taking 2 naps a day still on average, but will occasionally only take one. You've recently developed a small attachment to your white knit blanket & love to snuggle up with it during sleep times.

Fortunately, we have yet to experience any separation anxiety. I am hoping that maybe we will just skip this phase altogether (wouldn't that be nice!). You are starting to reject your pacifier more often then not & we are thinking of just taking them away now while you don't seem to want them. I think it will be easier & you'll miss them less. We may wait until all of our upcoming out of town trips are over though. We'll see.

Other then that, baby, you are still the happiest little guy anyone knows. Strangers constantly ask me, "Is he ALWAYS this happy?" And yes, you pretty much always are. You have your moments, but they seem to be fewer then some. As your momma, I feel lucky to call you my baby. I'm so happy to have you & no matter what life brings that will never change. Your daddy & I love you so much & our so proud of the little person you are turning into. Here's to another month!

Love, Your momma

P.S.--And so I don't forget, I am going to add as an aside that you weighed approx. 20 lbs 5.8oz & were 29.5 inches long.