11 Months Old!

Here he is, Mr. Grown-up with four whole teeth! (the top two JUST peeked through in the last few days.)  11 months old today.  I started this post thinking I didn't have as many pictures this month, then come to find I had a whopping 52!  We'll try to keep it simple, which if anyone knows me, I will surely fail to do.

First off, these lips.  Yes, he's had them for the last 11 months, not a new development, I just seem to have become more smitten with them in reviewing some of these pictures.  The JUICIEST!  Agh!

Making messes, cracking jokes.

Daddy time!

Abbot & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, Jacob & Jasper.  One dynamic duo!

Though sometimes he thinks he's a one-man show.

Our first family night, all three of us, with a lesson about prayer from "The Friend" and everything.   Jasper's usually in bed by this time, so we took some snapshots to commemorate the special occasion.  We showed him how to fold his arms, oh my gosh!  I could have died!  You dream about these little moments with your family "one day."  It's so cool to see those moments come to be.

Like father . . .

Like son . . .

LIPS!!!

HAIR!!

TOOSHIE!!!

Did you catch that?

The hand!  That just killed me.  I love when a little limb is peeking out after he goes to bed, so if I start to miss him after a few hours, I can crawl in and kiss or stroke his little fingers/hand/head, whatever's in reach, without disturbing him.  A sleeping baby somehow undoes whatever havoc is wreaked during the day!

Our first family swim!  Alli Spencer let us take a dip in the pool at their new place and was sweet enough to snap some pictures for us.  I got to float in the inter tube lazily with Jasper for an hour or so and it was heavenly. Seriously, I would do lazy-river therapy sessions.  Feels that good.

Verdict: this boy LOVES to splash.  Never woulda guessed.

Babe magnet.  Gettin' picked up at the pool.  

(with our friend, Erin McKay.)

I see no baby here.  I see little boy.  AGH!

Me and my buddy on Mother's Day.  Oh, this day was so sweet.  Can't believe how much I love this little guy, how much I love to be his mum.

Making trouble.  Lots and lots of trouble.  So many naughty, perilous things to get into in the bathroom, which of course makes it his favorite place: the bathtub, the toilet, the trash can, and the toilet paper roll.  How he LOVES to unwind the toilet paper roll. And the tin trash is a double whammy: treasures inside and a big bang when you knock it over!  The louder, the better for this one.

How he loves his little blocks.  We find them all over the house.  

And a course--Bathtime!  We made the successful transition to big boy bath.  He was fine, I was scared, but we did it!  Doesn't it seem like as soon as you master one skill as a parent, you gotta figure out something new?  Well, he's an old pro now!

This was last night.  Oh yes, he also loves cups.

Seriously though, cups and rags.  He goes CRAZY for his sippy cup.  Not to drink from, to play with.  And when I take it away at the end of a meal, he throws a straight-up temper tantrum like you'd expect from someone twice his age.  And the washcloth at meals is also a plaything for him.  I'm trying to clean him with it, he's trying to snatch it from me, and make it his subject, or whatever it is he does with them.  I don't know what the appeal is, but he'll tote them around with him like a little girl does with a doll.  He'll wave it around, bite it, hold it in his hands with him while he army crawls around, dusting the floor with it as he goes.  He'll set it down to inspect an item of interest, like the drapes or the piano, then pick it right back up with him to go to the next adventure.  And he's particular about size: washcloth to hand towel only, is suitable.

This shot is the short story of me trying to get a picture of him sitting in the chair this morning.  

*Why would I sit when I can play?*

Oh, our baby, a barrel of laughs.  

Here he is with his musical turtle, that Jacob swears he sings along to.  This was after dad let him splash in the bath and get himself all wet.  You're supposed to push the buttons on the turtle to make the music play.  Jasper does it by swinging him around and banging him upside down on the ground.  To each his own.

There you have it, our almost one-year-old!  He started standing on Mother's Day (a full 10 seconds!) but like most of his tricks, only shares them when they have the biggest impact--say, for an audience.  I'm so curious to see when he really starts walking.  He teases all the time!  We love you little man!