11 months old

dear miles,
last week you turned 11 months old. i can't believe that the next time i write an update it will be for your 1st birthday!!

eat
these days you are eating 3 meals plus 1-2 snacks. for breakfast you usually have yogurt "dots" and rice cereal mixed up with some sort of fruit. for lunch you often have crackers or bread plus turkey and cheese, lil' crunchies, and fruit. you're favorite snack is a strawberry-banana cereal bar. this month you tried out some organic smiley grain snacks which your really like and also some veggie crisps...it seems you really like crunchy things the best! for dinner you either eat what dad and i are having (your personal favorite...mac n cheese- you open your mouth extra wide for that!!) or you have a lil' entree (think chef boyardee made by gerber) meal such as chicken with mac & cheese & veggies, spaghetti rings, or turkey and vegetable stew. you have been nursing 1-3x per day.

sleep
since you've been nursing only 1-3x per day, do you know what this means?? yes!! you are sleeping through the night (happy happy dance). well most nights any way. but you just kind of dropped your last feeding on your own when you were about 10 1/2 months. the first night it happened i was so excited i couldn't believe it...imagine my excitement when you did it 5 nights in a row! you've been heading to bed around 7 or 8pm. in the mornings you usually wake up around 7.30am though somehow on the weekends you will often realize you should sleep in until 8 or 9.30am...you are awesome. for most of the month you were taking about 3 naps, an hour nap in the morning, an hour nap around lunchtime, and a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon, waking up around 5pm. recently it seems like you are getting ready to drop that nap in the morning time.

skills
you have perfected the army crawl, you look like such a little bug inching around on the floor, it's super cute! you have escaped the playroom twice on a mission to find something interesting and once when you were trying to keep up with peyton. your first love however is walking which you are still working on. you are getting more adept at cruising and LOVE to stand and hold on to things/people and look around.

you are talking so much and we like to pretend you are saying things! we do start to recognize some of the same sounds, especially something that sounds like a combination of "hi dad" and "hi there". it was really neat because you always say it to your dad when you see him (you also wave your arms around and open your mouth wide and do a dance of excitement...even if he left for 20 seconds), but then now you also say it to minnie our cat, and peyton and brady, or whatever person/animal has caught your interest. things you are really excited about such as brady, baths, and books you lovingly touch and say "Be"...of course all of these things start with "b" so i like to pretend you are saying them! i hear the occasional "nana" when you really want something but have yet to hear "mama"....get working on that!!

you will occasionally wave bye-bye, with your whole left arm. more often you will do the same motion when we see sometime, as if waving hi...especially when you see your dad...or brady. :)

we have a volleyball and you will roll it back and forth with me. you use your little toes to help you catch the ball. it's so fun!

this isn't really a skill, but i want to remember that you do it...everytime i park the car and come around to get you out of your carseat, as soon as i open the door you laugh and do a happy dance, as if we are at the most exciting place in the world or you have missed me SO much while i was in the front seat. sometimes i glance back and you are craning your neck backwards so you can look at me while i'm driving. <3

things you love
you still love mostly the same things, not too much new here.

books - the farm book is definitely first place here. a new book you've been interested in lately is a touch and feel baby animals book
baths
brady
minnie
dad
mom
cereal bars
eating whatever we are eating
drinking from my cup
your blanket square and comfort animals you sleep with each night
your orange laptop
your singing/magnetic farm animal barn
animal shaped easter eggs
rocks/sand at the park
swinging at the park
tennis balls/volleyball
laughing- you spontaneously laugh while you're eating, bathing, or if i look at you. you are so funny!
music! - anytime you hear music you stop what you're doing, "dance" until it stops, and then you continue on. it's sooooo funny. it doesn't even have to be actual music...if your dad or i start making a beat by drumming on something, you will start to bob your head like you're feeling the beat.

what we did
celebrated your first Easter with auntie jen and some of our friends from small group
hung out with aunt bekkie while mom and dad went to a rehearsal dinner/wedding
watched dad and mom and friends play tennis
went to the park, a lot!
went for walks in the stroller
started going to a friends house with the babysitter 2x per week
painted your playroom brown and mint green

i know i say it each time, but everytime i look at you i am amazed at how much i love you. i love feeling your fingers hold onto me so tight as you hold yourself up and explore what's going on around you. your laugh is the sweetest thing i have ever heard and i look forward to hearing it every day. i love you little man!