She Says… 11 Months

My sweet toddling little man,

Confession: We missed taking pictures last month. Alas, amidst moving boxes and going to the beach and starting your new daycare, we just couldn’t get our act together to get you in that chair and take your picture. Sorry, bud. You’ll just have to trust me that you were as cute as ever.

You are officially one month shy of your first birthday. Honestly, the time is flying by so quickly I can barely stand it. Sometimes when people ask me how old you are, I begin to say “5 months” or “6 months” and then realize that — yikes! — you keep getting older. And, I might add, more and more entertaining and fun. Not that you weren’t fun before, because you were, but now you are the full-on court jester in our house. You LOVE to be the center of attention and to show off. You smile for the camera, copy sounds on command, wander around yelling new gibberish words and blowing raspberries. You are, without a doubt, the life of the party. And quite a ham. You throw your head back and laugh and laugh at funny faces and funny sounds and pretty much anything Daddy does. You wriggle down from our laps to give the dog your patented love pats whacks and do. not. stop. moving. EVER.

I have come to realize that you are one of those “busy” babies. Like we didn’t know that before! You are a speed crawler who can get your little hands in the dog bowl before I can launch myself across the room to stop you. You open every door and drawer you can get your hands on, and inevitably get your fingers stuck, even when they are baby proofed. You’re sneaky like that.

And you’re not just crawling anymore. No, sir. We have officially entered the world of toddlerdom. You took your first little baby steps when you were 10 1/2 months old, and now you’re walking so far that we’re no longer counting in steps. You scamper up both flights of stairs in our house like they are nothing. We’re working on teaching you to go back down on your butt, but you would rather just hold our fingers and step blindly off each step, without a thought as to what is below.

You are fearless. Utterly fearless. And sometimes it scares the crap out of me. Judging by what your Daddy was like when he was a child, you get that from him. And I’m sure I have many more years of heartstopping moments ahead of me with you, my little daredevil. As if you couldn’t tell from these pictures, it’s just about impossible to get you to sit still for a picture. It’s a wonder we have any in focus at all. I think the days of monthly photos are nearing a close!

Just like when you were a tiny baby, music is just about your favorite thing ever. If you’re sad or oonchy (as we like to call it, when you’re squirmy and agitated for no apparent reason), I can always ALWAYS make you smile with a song. Recently you’ve started dancing when you hear music, whether it’s the radio or the ABC’s. It’s funny, because neither Daddy nor I bounce as soon as music comes on, but you’ve learned that dancing is just what you do when the music moves you. And so you do. You’re fascinated with your musical toys, and have become totally head over heels in love with our djembe drum. You smack the top and tap with with your fingers and push it over on its side and pat the side.

You started your new daycare and have adjusted better than even I expected. All of the teachers can’t stop fawning over your rock star hair and adorable giggle. You haven’t figured out how to nap there very well (yet), but you couldn’t be happier or more agreeable despite the lack of sleep. And you make up for it by sleeping like a rock at night.

You impress me and amaze me every day with what an easygoing little guy you are. You are flexible, yet opinionated. Sweet, yet stubborn. Scheduled, yet curious and open.

Owen, I am so proud of the person you are becoming. It makes me just about burst with happiness that you are exactly who you are. And that will always be the case. I love you so blindly, so unconditionally, so wholly that there isn’t a thing in the world you could do to change it.

I can’t wait to see what you’ll do today to make me laugh. Because it’s always something.

Love,
Mama