Eleven months

Dear Danny,

You are now almost eleven months old, and you're on the brink of walking unassisted.  Every day, I'm amazed at how big and independent you're becoming.  You don't need help to stand up, thank you very much!  You certainly don't need me to hold on to your waist, and will remove my hands and give me that 'I'm big now, mom... cut it out' look.  You're really just such a delightful little boy -- and though I know that every mother says that, you totally are.

Many babies have the usual first words...  Mama, Dada, kitty...  and though you mean to repeat 'Hi' it usually comes out as 'Heh'.  Your first official word was the usual: clock.  And by usual, I mean completely absurd.  Sometimes you omit the L, which is even funnier than your typical overexaggerated pronunciation of 'CuhhhLLlllockghghghghgh.'  That is a very impressive first word, Monster!  You are also very amused by clocks, which means you point and laugh and say clock.  We couldn't be prouder of you!

You sleep like a champ, and have for quite a while now.  We put you to bed around 8pm, and you stay asleep until just about 7am, give or take an hour (stupid daylight savings time.)  You wake up in a great mood almost every day, and you are the smiliest boy I've ever known.  You weren't overly snuggly for the first nine months of your life, since you were always in a hurry to do something.  But now you lay your head on our shoulders when you're sleepy and you love to lay down on me for story time.  You can sit and play by yourself for half an hour these days, inspecting every inch of a toy or a book.  You laugh hysterically at the cats, and sometimes at Mama and me.  You are just a good little boy, and we're lucky that you're ours.  In the next month or so, you'll experience your first Christmas -- exceptions allowed for last year when you were a few days old, and your eyes couldn't focus.  I'm excited to see you open presents, and I'm really excited to see you devour your first birthday cake. 

 

And really, we can't wait to watch you do all the remaining firsts too.  You're our favorite, Danny.