Max at 11 months old

My little baby is almost one.  It feels almost automatic to say, "I can't believe he's almost one year old, where did the time go?!", but to be honest, I can believe that he's been in our life (outside my tummy!) for almost a year.  The days of being parents to only one child feel long ago.  The nights of dealing with two small children (who wake each other up... like last night, for example, when I spent 4:00-6:20AM alternating between both of their rooms because they are both sick and needy and both need me) seem like they've been here forever.  Our little boy brings me so much joy.  While my little girl is like my heart and soul, it is different being a Mommy to a boy. And it's wonderful.

At 11 months, Max:

• Tries to alleviate back pain (?) by stretching it out multiple times a day.  He does this all.the.time. 

Exhibit A 

Exhibit B

• Stands on his tippy toes most of the time.  I don't think he's close to walking yet because he has no interest in standing on his own or in cruising, which is totally fine by me because I am willing him to not walk until at least November 18th, when I'm home from Asia.  

 Still thinks his mommy is God's gift to earth.  I'm going to savor this as long as I can because it won't be too long until I magically turn super uncool.

•  Thinks his sister is pretty cool as well. He laughs and laughs at Claire and enjoys 'playing' with her more and more.  When she takes a toy away from him, he can get pretty upset.  His fits are cute right now and make us laugh but just wait until he's 18 months old because it won't be funny any longer!

Notice the tippy toes? 

• Is a chunky lad.  He wears size 9 and 12 months for the most part.  I'm excited to see where he falls on the chart next month.
• Prefers feeding himself over being served purees.  He likes to feed himself grapes (his absolute favorite), bananas (second favorite), cheese, small veggies (carrots, peas, corn), puffs, lunch meat, bread, other fruit (peaches, plums) and goes crazy for yogurt.  He eats three meals a day, along with nursing in the morning and before bed, and 2-3 bottles each day. He is very focused and quiet when he's eating.  You don't even know he's in the room- he just slowly and steadily shoves the food into his mouth.  I don't know if he'd stop eating if his food didn't run out. 
• Is no longer given breastmilk in the bottle (sniff...).  I stopped pumping at work right after he turned 11 months.  As much as I dislike pumping, I would have pumped for awhile longer (another month or two) but I am starting the weaning process, due to my business trip.  
• Has six teeth- two on the bottle and four on top.  There is such a large gap between his top two teeth that his bottom two could fit between them.  Personally, I think it's adorable.
• Sleep pretty well.  He goes to bed between 6:45-7:15 PM (yes, I hardly see him during the week) and wakes up around 6:30 for the day.  When he no longer nurses in the morning I think his wake time will push back.  We generally hear him wake 2-5 times a night. Sometimes he puts himself back to sleep and sometimes he can't.  When I go into his room, he's always sitting up and crying.  I lay him down and that almost always does the trick.  
• Is still super happy.  He loves to laugh.  He points and waves.  Loves pat-a-cake.  Does "so big" sometimes but not on command.  Adores being outside.  Enjoys swinging on our new playground.  Crawls at lightning speed.  Pulls to stand on everything.  Gets mad when bathtime is over. 
• Says "teeee", "na na na", "ma ma ma", and makes whistling sounds  (maybe because of the ginormous gap between his top teeth?).
• Thinks it's funny when he sneezes.  Makes him laugh every time. 

I had a great three-day weekend with my little family.  Before bed tonight, I told Claire that Omi and Brody are going to come over tomorrow.  She said, "No, Mommy! Don't go to work!".  I'll miss them too!