month 11: reflections

Mason,

Guess what? We have another month under our belts. Amazing, isn't it?

This month, Daddy took you on a very special excursion: to purchase your first ball. You took the outing, and your new red ball, very seriously.

Each pool visit now includes a family dunk. Auntie got proof of it when we visited her and swam in her apartment complex's pool.

You love to roll around and wrangle with Daddy,

and read with Mommy. We adore your love of books! You march over to the stack of books, sit down, and hand them to us. Your attentiveness while reading six or eight of them in a row is quite impressive.

Your development has exploded this month.

At the beginning of the month, you began army crawling, but only when absolutely necessary. You still don't crawl the regular way yet, and we're convinced you're not going to. You have no desire to be on your belly or your hands and knees.

This month, you've also learned to sit up from a supine position, pull up, and cruise along furniture like a champ.

You began walking while holding on to our index fingers. Although this exercise is hard on our backs, we love how you're starting to explore the world. You would march around all day like this if we could keep up with you. (We can't.)

You've grown much friendlier these past few months. Your newest trick is waving and saying hi ("aaahhhh") to anyone in your line of vision. And watch out if people ignore you--then, you yell at them to get their attention!

We're amazed by how you can follow simple commands. "Hand Mommy a book." "Look at Daddy." "Pick up that diaper."

Three molars have popped through your gums this month, and the fourth is on its way. You now have 11 teeth (before you even turned 11 months old)--amazing! You eat pretty much everything that we do. You enjoyed your first piece of pizza this month, and you ate nearly an entire piece by yourself! We love your healthy appetite.

You've gotten over your separation anxiety at bedtime and during the night (thank goodness!), but your pouty lip makes an appearance every time we drop you off at the church nursery. You're a bit of a Mama's boy and you keep close tabs on Mommy at all times. You give Daddy a warm welcome home from work--a daily ritual that we all love and look forward to.

It's hard to believe that you only have one more month of being classified as an infant. We're in complete denial that you're turning one soon. Let's not talk about it, okay? Humor us and let us pretend that you'll stay our sweet little bundle forever.

We love you, darling. Happy 11 months!

Mommy and Daddy