Dear Emmett: Almost 11 Months

Dear Emmett boy,

You'll be 11 months old on Saturday! I can't believe it- one more month until you're a whole year old! I try not to think about that too much because I don't think I'm ready. You're getting big, baby boy.

You're doing so many things that I love right now! You chase the dog around the house, dying laughing whenever you catch up to him. You love to drive him crazy. You have a little dump truck that you "drive" around the house- you stuff it full of all your toys and Wubbanubs and push it all over the place running behind it. I can't believe how fast you move! You love to be chased by us and crack up whenever you realize we're following behind you.

You LOVE to swim! Your Aunt Lulu takes you swimming almost every afternoon, and your favorite thing is to lay on your belly in her arms kicking and splashing. Being in the water with you is so much fun! Bath time every night is your second favorite thing, after swimming. I give you your bath each night, and I love to put my feet in the water and play with you until you get all wrinkly and tired out.

You're eating like crazy- anything and everything we eat. You huff and puff and fuss when you see anyone eat anything until we share a bite with you. Your favorite food is meat. Any meat. When there is meat on your plate, you eat it all first before touching your veggies or fruit. Can't blame you for that!

You still love to nurse, maybe more than ever, and I love spending that time with you first thing in the morning and in the evenings after work. (And 2-4 times in the night...) Whenever you want to nurse you pull on my shirt now and fuss and make silly noises until I feed you. I think it's probably time for us to wean you, but I don't think either of us are quite ready.

You still love sitting in your little chair in your room. Every time we're in your room you crawl over to your chair and slap it until we pick you up and sit you down. Then you smile your funny little closed-mouth smile and say "yaaaaaaaay" in an almost whisper. It's pretty awesome. You dangle your little legs over the edges and then reach for us to pull you back down to the floor so we can do it all over again. We don't mind though, since it makes you so happy.

You love stuffed animals. Your mom has been collecting funny little stuffed animals since before you were born, and we've been taking a new one out every week or so to introduce you to. You're always a little shy at first, but after a couple of minutes you grab your animal and give them a big bite/kiss on the nose, and then you're fast friends. I'm not sure why, but every time you pick up one of your animals you smile a huge smile and bite/kiss them right on the nose. We love it.

A couple of weeks ago you discovered the doggy door. You are a brave boy, so you crawled right through it onto the patio without any hesitation! You scared your Aunt Lucia half to death, but we all thought it was pretty funny anyway. We're locking it now so you don't disappear outside when we're not looking!

You're repeating a few sounds and even learning a few "words" lately! You say "uhoh" when you drop or throw something on the ground, which is about 3,000 times a day. You say "dada" all day, but you've been saying it whenever your dad comes into the room or smiles at you, so I really think you know it means daddy. Your Mim taught you to say "up" whenever you climb up our legs and want us to pick you up, which we think is pretty smart and awesome! You say mamamamama a lot, but you've only said it to me a few times so I don't think you've got that one down just yet. I can't wait to hear you really talking, telling me about your day and letting me into that perfect little mind of yours. Oh my gosh it makes me so happy to think about that!

Your dad and I think you'll be standing on your own and then walking in no time! You still crawl around, but you prefer to be on your hands and feet than on your knees, and you'd much rather be walking around the table or couch or anything else you can hold on to. You've started to let go and stand by yourself for a few seconds at a time, but you always catch yourself and drop to your bum when you realize what you're doing. We love to watch you learn and grow so much.

Your mom is still your favorite, thank God. You love your dad and your Aunt Lulu and everyone else in our family, but you prefer your mom all the time. You always want me to hold you, and smile and wave now whenever I walk into the room. It makes my heart swell! You're such a sweet boy.

You make your mom and dad so happy Emmett boy. You're amazing and smart and funny and cute! We wouldn't change a single thing (except your sleep habits!) about you. We think you're perfect!

I love you Emmett, more than anyone has ever loved anyone in the whole history of the world. I'm so happy I get to be your mama!

You love crawling around in the grass lately!

The other day I got up early with you and headed to the park.
We shared some fruit for breakfast in the grass and played on the swings for a while.
It was so special and fun!

Those teeeeeeth!

Visiting your mama at work- always makes my day so much better!