11 Months...Almost there!

So my baby has almost hit the year mark. Today he is 11 months old and I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He has accomplished so much this month, so beware of a long post with a major picture overload!

This month AJ has learned to...(in progressive order)

...Wave to anyone who will make eye contact with him. Seriously, we will be in the grocery store, on the metro, in church, you name it and he is scouring the room for someone to make eye contact with so he can wave and get a smile from them. 

...Crawl with things in his mouth so it doesn't get in the way .

...Crawl over the lip on the gate and find his way into the kitchen to cook up a culinary masterpiece. 

...Share his toys with all his friends at playgroup. Boy, was that a fun mess to clean up. 

...play with anything but his toys. He isn't interested in his toys anymore. He just loves things like spoons, water bottles, cups, remotes and so on.

...how to make a mess. We can always find a trail to the baby just by following his mess. Keep an eye on the tissue.

...to say hi and Dada. He has used these words multiple times and I am starting to think it is legitimate. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but he says "haa" every time he waves to someone new, and says Dada every day when Joe leaves for school. I guess only time will tell.

...Stand up. I walked into his room one morning to find this. We have now lowered the crib just in case this little boy turns into a climber. 

...talk to ducks. He was seen ducks for the first time and loved yelling at them. 

...be the coolest kid on the block. AJ hates having the sun in his eyes, but loves to be outside, so we managed to find him a pair of sunglasses to wear. 

...hide in anything that closes. Every Monday he loves playing in the empty laundry baskets after I have finished folding all the laundry. 

Or, hiding in a locker. He loved playing Peek-a-boo with me in the locker room. 

...play on the swings. The weather has been amazing the last few weeks so I finally got to the park and let him loose. He liked finding things in the grass, eating dirt, soaking in the sun, but what he loved were the swings. 

...keep his favorite toys close. This kid reminds me of my dog Muffin. His favorite toy for the last few days has been socks. He will flip them around, throw them in the air, and talk to them like they are his best friends...on and off his feet. 

He went to the beach for the first time, sadly he slept through the whole thing. 

...drive. He takes rides on anything we can think of. This kid is fearless...well that is until he falls off, then we might have a different story.

...love watching the rain just like his Mommy.

...watch movies on the big screen. He came to his first movie with us. It was in 3D too! He did pretty good. Of course the movie was only 15 minutes long, seeing as it was a documentary for the mummy exhibit in the museum. 

...make a fishie face. Now he uses it in his eating process. He feels as if every time he chews he needs to pull his cheeks in. 

He also uses it to blow kisses. 

...walk with a lot of help from his parents and these awesome work boots! Sadly AJ has grown out of his converse and now is moving onto different shoes. He has giant feet. He is already wearing a size 5 before he even walks. For those of you who are unaware of children's sizes, that is about the same size a 2 1/2 year old should wear.  

...Skip out of church and play outside in the dirt. You can blame Joe for this one. I am teaching Sunday school to my little three year olds inside. 

...Escape when no one is looking. No he can't get through the gate, but if we leave it open for just a split second he has found his way through it. 

...Climb stairs!!! I don't know where this came from. He has never been near the stairs on his own. I went upstairs to get something and I must have left the gate open because within 1 minute I was ready to come back down and he was half way up the stairs ready to meet me. I am so glad he didn't fall backwards. We are now being way more careful about keeping the gate closed. 

...To fly through the air! He is a boy through and through. He loves being tossed up, thrown down, and spun really fast. I just hope he doesn't break a limb in the process...careful Joe! 

So, my little man is growing up so fast. I ma loving every minute of being a mom. He is such a sweet boy. I just wish that all of you could live in our house so you could experience the joy he brings into our house! I love my little AJ and wish he would just stop growing up, but life happens and we just can't miss a single moment in it. I want to leave you all with what brings me the most joy ever. His laugh!