Happy 11 Month Birthday!

Dear Luke,

Your 11 month birthday didn't feel like that big of a deal to me... maybe it's a little overshadowed by your ONE YEAR birthday that's just a month away!  I'm planning a fun little party for you. :)

At 11 months:

You weigh 20 pounds 10 ounces.

You are broadening your culinary palette.  You've had your first adult meal: Italian pesto salad (elbow noodles, cannellini beans, pesto, and parmesan).  You also eat peas, mixed vegetables, pita bread, and you had some of a waffle this morning.  You do NOT like picking up bananas by hand, but you loved them mashed.

You LOVE playing with any kind of little lotion tube and your bottle of vitamin D drops.

You definitely know what "no" means and, at times, listen when we say it. :)

You still want Mommy, most of the time.

You have begun to learn to drink from a sippy cup.

You've taken to dropping your bear or lovey out of your crib.  I think it was an accident the first few times, but you've also done it intentionally to see what happens when you drop it.  Then you dissolve into tears when you realize you can't get it back.  One night when I was gone you did this after Daddy put you to bed.  He turned off all the lights upstairs and sneaked in to deposit your bear back in the crib, without you seeing him.  You were feeling around for it and when you found it, you cuddled up, sighed contentedly, and fell right to sleep.

You're still working on your top teeth and have at least one more little tooth trying to come through on the bottom.

You are obsessed with your Baby Einstein take-along tunes toy.  It's the toy you never get tired of!

You can say more consonants now... mama, nana, and still lots of dada.

We love you!

Love,
Mommy

The Best Toys Aren't Toys

Dear Luke,

Lately you are most entertained when you are playing with things that aren't toys. Our recent trip to the grocery store was the least stressful trip in awhile. I usually bring in your diaper bag with lots of toys and change them out for you, first sanitizing my hands, then strapping them to your cart cover, as you get bored, and feel rushed to get out of there before you are too unhappy. This time I left the diaper bag and toys in the car and just handed you items from the cart. That's what you've always been most interested in anyway. So, you were entertained by a bag of spinach for awhile, then when you got tired of that, I gave you a little package of pine nuts, then you finished the trip with a container of shaved parmesan. You were content for the whole trip (it was also a shorter trip, which I'm sure had something to do with it) and I didn't have to worry about getting your toys out of the bag or having the diaper bag take up so much space in the cart. I should have thought of that sooner! Here you are with some recent finds:

I love you, little buddy.

Love,
Mommy

The Climber

Dear Luke,

You are pulling up on absolutely everything imaginable! I took these pictures yesterday in just the span of an hour or so.

You've taken a few falls, but haven't hurt yourself too badly yet. You might cry hard, but then once I pick you up and distract you, you forget pretty quickly. Then you want to do it again, even if it didn't turn out well the last time. :) You are keeping me on my toes!

Love,
Mommy

Battle of the Bib

Dear Luke,

We've been battling over your bib lately. You like to try and take it off when you're eating now, so I am repeatedly telling you No in a very firm voice and bopping your hand. I know you know you're not supposed to do it, because now you look me in the eye as you do it, clearly testing how I will respond. You don't seem too phased yet when I get on to you. I did raise my voice and say No more forcefully recently and you did widen your eyes some at that. If I get up and leave you sitting there by yourself for a minute, you usually don't like that either. I'll need to learn your currency to figure out what will work to get you to obey. For now, it's good training ground for me to learn to be consistent!

Love,
Mommy

Happy 10 Month Birthday!

Dear Luke,

At 10 months:

You weigh 20.8 pounds.

You almost never sit still!  You're quite the little explorer.

You are good at eating puffs and little pieces of bread and like to play with your sippy cup, although you haven't really mastered the art of drinking from it yet.

You love to pull up to your knees and now your feet, as of Christmas Day.

You often make a noise like a helicopter.

You want Mommy... and if you're sick or tired, sometimes cry when I walk away.

You like to be out and about and love being outdoors.

You are working on your top 2 teeth and have cute little teeth buds.

You open your mouth wide to play, apparently mimicking the face we've been making at you for all these months!

Your new favorite thing to say is da da da da da... but we don't think you know what it means yet. :)

We love you so much!

Love,
Mommy