Perpetual Motion. That’s the best way to describe our 11-month old little boy. Sleeping, awake, morning, noon, and night---he’s moving all the time, which is exactly the way he was in utero. I used to laugh at the gymnastics he did in my belly. I remember several evenings during my pregnancy with Ian, sitting on the couch and watching my belly do the rumba, and commenting to Eric, "I know Molly was active, but she was NOTHING like this little belly dancer." He has progressed rapidly from standing to cruise (7 months), to first steps (8 months), to tentative walker (9 months), to proficient walker (10 months). At 11 months, he chooses to walk much more often than he chooses to crawl and gets pretty much anywhere in the house that he wants to go, including UP! He’s quite the observant little man and has watched Molly moving step stools and chairs around the house to reach high places. He quickly learned that he could do the same and has put us into eagle-eye parent mode. He can also pull himself up onto low shelves, tables, and chairs, which gives all new meaning to the term “childproofing”.
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| "Who, me? Get into trouble? Never!" |
We received oodles of fantastic toys for Christmas this year--- brightly colored blocks, wooden play food, a play kitchen ---and yet he still chooses to play with everything else in the house that is not a toy, especially things he knows he's not supposed to play with. His favorites are the pots and pans under the stove, Molly's crayons and pencils, the diaper sprayer, electronics (remotes, computers, phones), the pasta and rice drawer in the kitchen, DVDs, and the cupboard knobs. He has actually figured out how to unscrew the knobs on our cupboard doors!
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| "Look, Mom. There's another cute little baby in here playing with me too." |
Another favorite is any dirt or mud that he can get to in the yard before we we catch him. If he's set down on the ground, he'll make a bee-line for the dirtiest spot he can find. Yup, he's ALL boy! The good thing is that he likes to get clean again too. He really loves bathtime. He would splash and play all night if I let him. I've learned to just cover myself up with a towel and let them go to town because those splashing little hands are like little hummingbird wings---there's no slowing them down.
Ian is still the joyful, animated, communicative, ball of energy that he's always been. He reminds me of a happy little puppy that wags his whole body when he gets excited. When I go to get him out of his crib in the morning or after a nap, he cries until he sees me and then he immediately starts smiling from ear-to-ear, jumping up and down and cooing excitedly. It's the same story when I get home from work in the afternoon. He drops everything he's doing, starts waving his arms and yelling, and toddles over to me as fast as those little legs can carry him. As a mommy, it just melts my heart to find him so excited to see my face. He loves to communicate in any way that he can---waving, clapping, high-fives, squealing. He has even started to pick up on a few baby signs (mostly "more"), but isn't using them purposefully yet. It's just so amazing how different two children from the same set of parents can be. Molly has always been such an introverted "thinker", while Ian is such an extroverted "talker". It's a lot of fun to watch them both develop their own little personalities.
One nickname that we have for Ian around here is "the bottomless pit". He just eats and eats and eats some more! When Molly was this age, I was still making purees for most of her meals, but Ian has never been crazy about baby food. He'd much rather have "the real thing" from Mommy or Daddy's plate. He's loved pretty much anything we've given him---chicken, fish, potatoes, rice, beans and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. And of course, he's still a big fan of mama's milk. His pattern has been to load up on food all day and then milk all night. But you wouldn't know it when you put him on the scale; at his last appointment, he weighed 18 lbs. 9oz., which puts him in the 25th percentile. However, it makes sense when you consider that the boy NEVER stops moving! He's burning calories like a marathoner with all the moving he does!
I can't believe that my little boy will be ONE this month!!! This year is certainly flying by and the wild ride with this wild little man has only just begun.
