leo is 11 months

Happy 11 months! One month to go until the big first birthday. We're running out of onesies for photos so I had to squeeze you into a 6-9 month one this month. I'm shocked I got it to snap, and it stayed just long enough for the photo.

We had a pretty decent snowfall earlier this month. Unfortunately, you were sick at the time so you didn't get to play outside too much. We took you out just long enough to get a cute photo of you all bundled up. I think your stomach just got all out of whack because everything was running right through you for 5-6 days. We started to get worried you were getting dehydrated, but every time we approached the maximum time your doctor said you go without a wet diaper, you would finally pee. I'm so grateful we managed to get enough liquids in you to avoid taking you in for an IV in the middle of a snowstorm. Whew.

You are always punctual. The day you hit 11 months, we caught you standing unassisted. So far, you can stand for maybe 10-15 seconds before slowly squatting back down. You even took one half step before sitting back down. You look long and hard when we reach out for you to walk, but every time you resort to crawling. If I had to put my money on it, I'd say you will be taking steps by the time you turn one next month.

Speaking of turning 1, birthday prep is in full force for your circus party. I'm having lots of fun planning all the fun little details while still being in complete disbelief that you are almost one.

You have still been doing great with two naps/day, and you are back to sleep through the night on the regular. There have also been fewer tears before bedtime lately. Perhaps you are finally learning that it's far more pleasant to chit chat while falling asleep rather than just protest with tears.

You still love to eat, but you don't necessarily love your high chair. For as much as you want to eat, you can't sit in your high chair very long without getting fussy or antsy. I think it might be a bit uncomfortable for you so we're going to try a different style chair to see if it's a better fit. There isn't much you won't eat, but peanut butter seems to be a favorite right now. You can definitely inhale an entire tortilla covered in peanut butter. You also love drinking water out of whatever cup or water bottle is nearby - mine, Charlie's, etc.

We are still nursing, but we can start introducing cow's milk soon. Waking you up from you naps and snuggling while you nurse is still one of my favorite parts of the day. You are so warm and squishy when you first wake up., and hopelessly foggy as you rub your sleepy eyes (your poor lower eyelid is always red because you rub it so much you've irritated your skin).

You say "dada" all the time. You also say "mama," but I probably only hear 1 mama to every 50 dadas. I'm not positive anything has truly counted as your first word yet, but if we had to call it today, dada would win. Sigh.

Your hair is completely out of control these days. Of course, I can't bring myself to cut it, but you have basically grown wings on both sides. If we can hold out until summer, I know your hair will curl right up in the heat and humidity. Maybe I'll just take a little off the back to avoid mullet territory.

You still love playing ball and you still love playing with everything Charlie has. It's getting harder and harder to just relocate you and try to distract you with other toys. I fear I'm about to enter the stage of life where I am constantly acting as referee. It's not that your brother doesn't like you. He always makes sure the pillow is placed at the bottom of the step in case you fall (even though you can safely navigate 1-2 steps now). He loves to share food with you and make you laugh or tickle you. But yeah, he doesn't love when you get in his way or try to play with his things.

You already love cars and trucks. You are great at moving the cars along the race track, and you love watching them slide down the tower. Charlie got a robotic snake for his birthday, and it might be your favorite thing right now. You chase it all over the house, and you are most delighted when you finally catch it.

When you aren't chasing the snake around, I can usually find you in the bathroom. You love exploring all the fun things in the cabinet, unrolling the toilet paper or splashing in the toilet. It was a little easier to keep you away before, but now that Charlie is potty-trained, we have to keep the doors open so he has access. This has brought you great joy.

You are pointing at all kinds of things now - especially in your books. You still like the lift-a-flap books the best. You are working on high fives and waving bye bye - both in progress, but you're trying! We have also been working on signing "more" during mealtimes. You played a version of peek-a-boo behind the curtain yesterday.

You are still navigating the stairs like a champ. You can climb the entire flight of stairs in no time at all. You can easily go down the one step on the main floor, and you can get down the two stairs leading into the basement no problem. I have spotted you before and let you climb down the big flight of stairs too.

It's amazing how fast you can pick up on things and imitate new things. Dada and I have both noticed that you seem to learn things quickly. I sometimes wonder if you catch on quicker because you have a big brother to show you the ropes around here.

As you get bigger, we are starting to see more personality...and more opinions! You are certainly not a difficult baby, but you aren't as laid back as your big brother was at this age. You demand a little more attention, and you seem to have more thoughts about what you want and when you want it.

You have the best chuckle and big smile, but you can be very shy with new people. There is no doubt you are a mama's boy, and separation anxiety has reached its peak (or at least I hope it has...I'd hate to see it get worse!). We've had several weeks now where I haven't been able to leave you with anyone other than Dada. Church and MOPs nursery have been a no-go in the last 1-2 months. However, I'm happy to report that you made it through the entire sermon in nursery this week and also lasted for an entire MOPs meeting. I wouldn't say you were the happiest either time, but you weren't inconsolable. We have a babysitter coming this Saturday so we'll see how you handle that. It's hard because the only way for you to learn is to practice, but it still hurts my mama heart to know you can be so unhappy when I'm away.

You are also starting to get mad if we don't let you do something or if Charlie takes a toy from you. It's no longer quite as easy to just replace the toy or activity with something else. You have also had a few spells lately where you were just plain unhappy for a couple of hours for no explainable reason. It seems to usually hit in the evening, and leaves us scratching our heads. It's probably different things every time - teething, illness, tiredness, who knows? I still don't understand why babies don't come with manuals or at least mood rings.

We can't wait to celebrate you in one short month!! Love you, mean it.

leo is 10 months

I took the photo a day early this month, but I'm almost 2 weeks late with the post. That's what happens when a monthly milestone falls on Christmas. It just means I have all kinds of fun things to report...and probably not as much to say in 2 weeks when I do this again. :)

I think you hit another growth spurt recently because looking at you today, you just look so massive. You barely fit in your infant car seat. You have outgrown many 12-18 month clothes, and while you are still in size 4 diapers, I bought some size 5s to try and you can easily fit into those as well. You also have two new teeth and more on the way.

Your interaction has been off the charts this month too. It's so fun to see more personality coming out. You are picking up new skills left and right. You learned how to clap at the beginning of the month, and you even recognize that you are supposed to clap when we start singing "if you're happy and you know it..." Tonight, Dada successfully taught you how to high five. You can turn the pages in books, and you've started to point at things. You think it's so fun when Dada points at you and you point back. It's very ET of you both.

You also started "talking" this month. I probably remember it so clearly because it was Charlie's 3rd birthday, and I was already lamenting how quickly my boys are growing up. You woke up that morning and turned on the babble like flipping a switch. All kinds of "dada" "baba" "gaga" noises with lots of new variation. I hate to admit it, but we hear a lot more "dadada." There's still hope because nothing has sounded like an official first word yet, but I'm afraid I'm going to lose that one.

You may say "dada" first, but in my heart, I know you're a mama's boy. This can be both good and bad. Sometimes only mama will do, and you don't like not being in my presence. Even in Oklahoma for New Years, you were pretty clingy with mama - often nuzzling into my chest when others wanted to hold you. You did warm up to people after a few days or as long as I stayed within few/didn't leave for too long. I'm not sure when we'll attempt a babysitter again. I'm afraid it wouldn't go well.

Sleeping and eating remain the same. You weren't a great sleeper over this last month or while we were in Oklahoma - not terrible, but not the dream baby you were on our last trip. I'm hoping we can get back to sleeping through the night now that we are home. You still love solids and eat anything put in front of you. We've successfully weaned down to 4 nursing sessions/day. We have skipped morning nap a time or two lately without too much trouble. I think you'll probably be ready to drop your morning snooze on the earlier side, which is fine by me since it usually means an even longer afternoon nap.

You were a good traveler again. Even though we got delayed landing in OK and then had to wait a looong time for a gate and our luggage, you were such a champ. On the way back home, we had an early, early flight and you fell asleep on my shoulder before we even took off!

You are really getting around cruising these days, but you aren't quite brave enough to take a step. I have caught you standing for a second or two after letting go, but you always get down to crawl from point A to point B. You'll use anything as a push toy to help you walk around - chairs, stools, small tables, boxes, etc. Perhaps most exciting this month, you learned how to navigate the step down into the living room. Now I can worry just a tad less about you bonking your head every time I turn around.

Your favorite toy is whatever Charlie is playing with at the moment. This works out great since 3 yr old's love to share. Insert eye roll. It's definitely been a little more love/hate recently. You both have great moments of hugging, laughing, tickling (Charlie loves to pretend to be the tickle monster getting you) and reading books together, but also some more challenging moments of stealing toys and hitting/pushing. You do love bath time together, and my favorite thing is when you talk to each other. If you are babbling, Charlie will make those same repetitive sounds back and forth with you. Charlie also loves to share his food with you. This is normally fine, but I've had to intervene a few times before he shoved a whole grape or popcorn in your face.

You love playing with balls. You think dribbling balls is hilarious, and you've learned how to roll the ball back and forth with Dada. The toilet brush and toilet are also on your favorites list. Sigh. You like to open drawers and pull everything out. And you love dumping toys out of bins as well. Unlike your brother, you don't seem scared of loud noises - you crawled right over to the vacuum the other day to investigate. You were pretty fascinated by the tree as well. You liked to pull off ornaments and chew on them. Luckily, we have plenty of soft ornaments to put near the bottom in reach of tiny hands.

Goodnight Moon is still your favorite book. Charlie has requested it recently, and once you hear me start reading, you always make a beeline to come over for story-time. Speaking of beelines, nothing gets you more excited than nap time. When you hear the water running, you cannot be held back.

Of course, as you get older, you also get more opinionated. You are still delightfully drama-free 95% of the time, but you have your moments. You get mad when you want to eat (I don't blame you), but you also get mad when you are done eating and want to get out of your highchair and move around. You have learned how to take your bib off and you love throwing your water sippy cup on the floor. Diaper changes have become a wrestling match, and there are still tears at bedtime pretty much every night. You've also been a little more resistant to getting buckled into your car seat lately, but once strapped in and moving, you're fine with it.

Birthday party planning has started in earnest. Less than two months to go!!