11 months!

Gaby Baby,

You are 11 months old and all boy!

You are a super proficient crawler and love to explore every knook and cranny (sp?) of the house. There is no stopping you! You pull up on everything and love to walk with us holding your hands. You are getting pretty quick! It has been fun/sad to watch you develop that skill. It is so neat to watch you try and succeed. You look so proud of yourself. We are so proud of you too. However, it is so awful to watch you fall down. I know we have to let you explore and figure things out on your own (in a safe environment, of course), but I would prefer you did it with a helmet! You, and I am sure all babies, have a knack for still bumping your head even after every precaution has been taken to keep you safe. Life is full of bumps and bruises. Here we go.

You are cruising all over the place, also. You stand up and take steps all around what you are holding on to. You especially love the dishwasher. If your dad or I open that thing up, you make a beeline over for a full inspection. I bet you walk by your first birthday. You pull up, walk all around that object and then look off toward something else. You are clearly trying to figure out how to get over to that something else.

This new-found mobility has made it kind of difficult to put you to bed at night. You used to be the easiest baby to put to sleep. Around 7:30 you would start rubbing your eyes and that was our cue to put you in your crib. As soon as you were laid down and tucked in you would roll over, put your thumb in your mouth and we wouldn't hear a thing from you until morning. Now, we tuck you in, you roll over and keep rolling until you are on your stomach where it is easy for you to push back up to a standing position. You do this as late as 9pm sometimes. You are so tired and so cranky, but totally unwilling to stop cruising. We promise, Gabe, you aren't missing anything! Your dad has the most success in getting you to bed. When you get super cranky, your dad picks you up and you lay your head on his shoulder and totally relax. It is really cute. I have to admit, I am a little jealous that I don't have the same effect on you, but as long as one of us does.

You also are the reason they have to keep the door shut to your classroom at school. You have discovered a whole world out there and are ready to go! Miss Susan says that you don't have a hall pass, but are always sneaking out of the room. This endless wondering/exploring is kind of exhausting sometimes, but I am glad for your curiousity and coordination. For a while you were kind of a bump on a log....you are making up for lost time. :)

You started school lunch last week also. You love it. You gooble it up. My suspicion was correct...you are totally done with boring, pureed baby food. Now we just need to work on holding a spoon. It is about to get messy!

We can't get enough hugs and kisses and we melt every time you smile and laugh. My favorite thing ever is to have you reach out for me. You actually hug now too. You sure know how to make me feel special.

We love you so much, munchkin. Happy 11 month birthday. We can't believe you are about to be one year old!

P.S. Update on the teeth....eight teeth are fully showing now. Four on the top, four on the bottom.