11 months

J Man,

walking

You are really turning into a little boy! Technically I suppose you are still an infant, but you are all toddler. You are incredibly active and we really have to work to keep up with you. It's fun to have a little glimpse into your mind now that you can crawl, cruise and walk with a toy. You can stretch up to high surfaces, reaching things on the entry-way table, kitchen table and top shelves of our bookcases. Nothing is safe from you now.  We love walking outside with our push toys; you can make it two houses in each direction. Pretty soon you'll be able to make it to Luke and Katie's front door to see if they can come out to play. Today, we were playing in the living room and you took three steps without holding on. You fell into my arms and I hugged you like a crazy person. You just laughed and drooled on my shoulder.

climbing

You are so sweet (see picture below). You have some favorite people in life and you light up right away when you see them. Others cause you to be a little shy, taking a while to check them out before giving one of your award-winning smiles. You usually have a paci in and it's so cute to see your smile peek out from behind the pacifier.  You get very excited to see Grandmother Beth, Ben and Liz, but mostly....Lincoln. Every time we come home and get out of the car, you start to make your 'arf arf' noise that you have for Lincoln. You even recognize his name when we talk about 'Lincoln'.  Some people think you are a girl, but we know that you are all boy! It's interesting to watch how you have already gravitated to balls and trucks, even though you have all types of toys available to you.

You are still our open-mouthed-drool-machine! Our friends have a three year-old boy, Eli, and they were sure he would stop drooling before he turned one...two...three. Maybe we have a few years of wet shirts to look forward to? I think that being a parent means that you start to eat really gross things and think nothing of it. In a pinch, I will clean your paci to give it back to you if it has fallen (some floors are completely out of the question, however). I have been known to sneak a chicken nugget piece off your tray and come to discover that you had lightly chewed and spit it out. Recently you've been sick with a cold and everything seems to be covered in snot. You are so quick that before I know it, a snot/drool covered hand is in my mouth, ear or slathered all over my work pants.

You have finally become more of a snuggler, and I am going to cherish each moment. After naps, you reach up for me to pick you up and we cuddle in your rocking chair or read part of a book. We can make it through about 12 pages of a doctor Seuss now before you get antsy.  You love to grab pieces of my hair and hold on with your strong little hands.  You are sweet and are surprisingly gentle with other kids and Lincoln.  It's fun to interact with you, whether it is cuddling quietly or throwing the ball back and forth.  Your favorite game, however, is hide-and-seek. you and dad played in the sanctuary between church services on Sunday and you were so excited to find him hiding behind a pew! You and I play in the dining room,  racing around the table to catch the other one and getting tickled when I catch you!

My favorite moments with you recently are in the morning after our long runs with my new running group. We come back, put you in the high chair for breakfast and I dance around the kitchen and sing to you in my socks (and other clothes of course!), Risky Business-esque.  My song of the week is "I Feel Good" and you get a kick out of watching me dance. I really hope that the neighbors are not home, as our windows are open all day and they will get quiet a show!

You have 8 teeth, are about 29 inches tall (new favorite toy...dad's measuring tape), and somewhere maybe 21-22 pounds (you're too wiggly to hold on the scale with us to get a weight).  You don't enjoy a spoon much unless it has my yogurt on it; you are all finger-feeding and are anti-veggies right now.

Your dad and I are so in love with you. You light up our life and are such a joy to us. Thank you for being such a blessing and for allowing us to be parents. We love you big guy, our boose.