11 Months (8/13/13)

Dear Ben,

How is it even possible that you will be ONE in a month!?!?  I cannot believe it!

GENERAL:  You are about 16#14oz and 29inches, I believe.   You are still the sweetest, funniest, and most loving little guy ever.  You are soooo busy and you do not like to sit still!  You are quite attached to your momma these days!  When I am trying to get ready in the morning, you cry your little eyes out if I am not holding you.  The same thing happens when I get home from work.  After I am out of sight though, you usually will find something else to satisfy you.  You sure love your daddy too!  You love watching him vacuum, cut the grass, and pretty much anything else he does.

EATING:  You are slowly but surely starting to like eating a little bit more!  You seem to eat better with Nana than you do with momma and daddy.  This is probably because she gives you real food like plums, raspberries, cheese, and turkey.  You still just have your 2 bottom teeth but we can just barely see your 2 top teeth wanting to make their way through! You still take a bottle 4 times a day (usually around 6 ounces/bottle).  We are working on getting you to use a sippy cup.  You typically have 3 meals a day. You love having blueberry, strawberry, peach, or banana yogurt for breakfast!

I know, I know...total choking hazard here...

You love listening to music at the park!

SLEEP:  You are (finally) essentially sleeping through the night!!!  Every once and  a while you will get up between 10:30 and midnight, but you will usually fall back to sleep after you get some snuggles or a bottle.  You usually wake up around 5:30-6:00.  Sometimes, we'll give you a bottle when you wake up and then you go back to sleep until 7!  You are even going to bed awake and then falling asleep within a few minutes of being put into your bed.  You are still taking 2 naps a day, usually for an hour or so each nap.  We are loving your sleep patterns these days!!  We have brought back the sleep sack and that seems to have helped quite a bit.  I imagine it's cold without it!  Plus, you're such a snuggly guy and it is hard to snuggle without covers (or your momma.)  You get to come into our bed in the morning for a bit, and you climb all over us and laugh.  There's no better way to start the day!

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  You have been walking up a storm for the past month or so!  I am amazed at how quickly you went from pulling yourself up to walking to running!  You never crawl anymore, and whenever you fall, you get yourself right back up and keep on going!  You can quickly climb stairs and you even climb on your toys or pillows if you want to get up a little higher--to reach things that you should not have.  :)  We have put up baby gates to keep you off of the stairs and out of the kitchen!  You love going in cabinets that you do not belong in.  You also like emptying your toy basket and you like pulling books off of the shelf.  You've been putting everything in your mouth lately, including every crumb or little piece of paper you can find.

Such a little stinker!  (And such a smart guy!)

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION:  You are still babbling up a storm.  Your favorite words are "mamamamamama," "dadadadadada," or "MOM!" and "DAD!"  You might be saying them to correctly identify your parents, but not all of the time...yet!  It also seems that you might call Rosco "Ra."  You at least like to share toys with her.  You are really good at waving when daddy and I leave for work in the morning and you get SO EXCITED when we come home...lots of happy squeals!  You are also doing a lot of pointing and grunting/whining if you want something.  You're getting good at turning lights on and off when we leave or enter a room.  If I say, "Where's daddy?" you will look around until you find him.  You love other kids and you especially like watching the kids next door play basketball.  While you are still a friendly little guy, you are getting more shy lately.  You will (occasionally) tuck your little head into our shoulders or chest if a stranger is talking to you.  And last but definitely not least, I think you're reeeeaaaallly close to giving me a kiss!  Such a sweetheart.

I (we) love you so much, little guy!  I love every second I get to spend with you!  My favorite part of every day is when I get to see you!  I will love you for ever and ever, sweet boy!