Eleven Months . . .

Wow--where has time gone?? Merek is 11 months old today. And he is becoming such a toddler! I've really enjoyed this last month (well, I enjoy them all) especially because of the changes in his level of interaction with us.

He loves to shake his head "no" (back and forth). Sometimes he does this with his eyes rolled up and I wonder if he is doing it because it feels good inside his head. He has been teething for several weeks now. The bottom molars are both through and one top one poked through yesterday. The other top one is right inside the gums, ready to break through at anytime. Plus, he has had a cold, so his poor head must feel so congested!

He is starting to say more now. Da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, and blah-blah are most common. He is even started to repeat ma-ma when I ask him to. For awhile, I said, "Say ma-ma". He'd reply with "da-da". A funny thing he has begun doing this week is screaming in response to others yelling. If the kids call to one another, Merek will reply himself with a nice, loud scream. He says "hi" a lot, especially when holding something up to his ear as if he is talking on the phone.

He'll switch an item from hand to hand when I am changing his clothes and need to put an arm through a sleeve. Pretty smart, huh? He also has starting noticing cause/effect type things--like pushing on the top of his ball popper toy causes the ball to swirl around and pop. I love this stage of discovery!

He explores all over the house and gets into the cupboards in the kitchen. The tupperware cupboard and toaster cupboards are his favorites. This past week he discovered the pots and pans. I really don't mind the mess too much. He likes to pull out the oven drawer as well. Oh, and playing the piano is one of his all-time favorite things. When the girls are practicing or even if he notices the cover is open, he'll crawl over and start playing the keys.

In addition to standing on his own now, he is cruising around the furniture a bit. Tonight he cruised the whole length of the couch. Two weeks ago, we pulled out the walker we began using with Miranda. Merek has taken a few steps behind it as well. It was scary at first seeing the walker pull ahead and him teetering on the brink of falling face-first to the ground. But then he'd take a step forward and balance himself out. Now he'll take 5 or 6 wobbly steps behind it before plunking to the ground.

He is still eating and drinking pretty much the same. I've tried to increase his formula amounts the past week or so, especially in the warm weather and with his cold. He still loves sweet potatoes and most fruits. DH was feeding him peach slices the other day and Merek couldn't get enough of them. He is sleeping pretty well at night. He goes down really well and if he does wake at night we can give him his paci and he'll go back to sleep. His naps have been sporadic and he is pretty much just taking one nap a day. It has been a little tricky getting those to fit in the schedule with running the boys to school after lunch.

One cute thing I wanted to write about and not forget is how he throws his head back and smiles a cheesy grin when he has discovered something that makes him happy. It is really cute and I love that he is so happy.