11 Months

W turned 11 months last week.  The big birthday is coming.  On one hand I'm avoiding any acceptance of him getting big.  On the other, I'm honestly shocked at how quickly the months have gone by.  He's still just a little baby, but, well, not so much a baby anymore.  I feel excited and proud for him.  And, like always, here's why:

**Open-mouth kisses and hugs.

**SO big!

**He said "Mama" -- finally!

**Always clapping and excited.

**He loves to yank his paci out of his mouth, put it back in, and yank it out again.  It's always so matter-of-fact.  He also thinks it's so funny when I hold his paci by the hook between my teeth with the actual paci sticking out.  He laughs and laughs and leans in to try to get it back in his mouth.

**This boy can eat!  He will eat just about any sort of finger food, his favorites being pear, black beans, rice, oh, and puff cereal.  W loves puff cereal to the point of obsession.  I think he would eat it all day, every day, for every meal if I allowed such things.  But honestly, I wouldn't mind a bowl of cereal for every meal, too.  He has good taste, I suppose.

(Yes, he drools, even in the bathtub.)

**W isn't much of a dancer, but the afternoon dance party is getting better and better.  How?  Well, although he (currently) lacks the moves, he does love to sing along.  The first sing-along-song:  Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."  Like I said, he has good taste.  He also sings along in the car now, too.

**Another love of W's is his black spatula.  Oftentimes I will find myself trying to throw dinner together while W is trying to climb up my leg.  Naturally, I reach into a kitchen drawer to find some sort of distraction for him, and the black spatula/pancake flipper always seems to be available.  So, more often than not, W is found crawling or scooting around the house with this long, plastic, and completely obtrusive utensil.  He can't seem to get enough of it.

**First haircut.  W had a nice little "tail" on the left side of his neckline; it needed to go.  So She-She and I attempted a little trim.  I didn't anticipate being too difficult, however, it took several pacifiers, limes, and funny baby sounds to distract the boy enough to cut his hair somewhat even.  Although I thought I would get a little emotional at this milestone, I was able to hold myself together.

**W is now standing on his own and I would guess on the verge of walking.  But when we try to practice, he shows zero interest in taking steps on his own.  It will be nice to have him up off the floor a bit, but I have a feeling this boy is going to take off running as fast as he crawls.  So I'll enjoy him crawling as long as he'd like.

**And speaking of crawling, W is like a little mountain climber.  Not so much on furniture (yet), but when he is crawling around on the floor, he insists on climbing up and over every person, dog, toy, etc. within the vicinity of his intended destination.  He will not go around for anything.

So happy birthday to my sweet boy.  You're the coolest little boy I know, and I feel so lucky to get to play, laugh, explore, read and just hang out with you everyday.  xo