11 Months

We are officially on the home stretch towards the big O.N.E. And all I can say is W.O.W. Besides using anything within reach to pull up on, he crawls at warp speed and is starting to balance on his own two feet for a few seconds at time. The mobility and activity level have really skyrocketed- this little boy is on the move. Cruisin' for a bruisin' is more like it. Literally! He has one on his forehead and one on his cheek in this picture (not to be blamed on Uncle Chris, these were a pre-existing condition):

What makes this can't-take-your-eyes-off-him-for-one-second phase even more relaxing is the fact that his attention span is practically zero. I feel like he is the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, just barreling through everything because he doesn't know what he wants until he stops and roars. Ashton's roar is more like a small squeaking but that makes sense considering the difference in size.

Other Ashton notables this month...when he hears music he will put his arms out and shake them up and down. He is also starting to wave, babble a lot more, and his two top teeth are halfway down...

We were on vacation this past week (to be documented in a separate post) and between the big pool, kiddie pool, beach, sand, ocean...we literally could not wipe the smile off of his face.

Sleepwise, his favorite position is with his arms underneath him and his little behind in the air (mysterious dots in the first photo are pacifiers):

And we are still in a pretty good routine between a 7:15 am wakeup, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and two 60-80 minute naps a day around 9:30 and 1:30. I still nurse him and pump twice a day so that he has an 8 oz bottle at his 6:30-7 pm bedtime. Between all of that, there are approximately 103 workable minutes each day for other things. 95 if you count diaper and outfit changes. With that precious time, if we are not on our nifty new playmat or in his new baby pool, we...

work on Tate's friendship

swing (I know he's having more fun than he's letting on)

go to the park (the park is a great place for multitasking: Ashton gets a snack, Tate gets to run around (or stalk Ashton's snacks, usually the latter) and we all get to be outside)

And lastly, spend some family time. Dressed down...

And up :)

(Thanks to Campbell Osowa's christening for a reason to put Ashton in his miniature boat shoes!)

Favorite food at the moment is watermelon. I cut it into little cubes and he stuffs them in his mouth so fast it's like Tate is trying to lick them off his highchair tray (oh wait, he IS). Anyway, this new little chipmunk skill he's got going on is pretty funny. A solid 30-45 minutes after a meal he will laugh or sputter and chunks of food will come flying out. My favorite was this past week at Grandma and Grandpa's on Long Island. The kiddie pool had been sitting out all day and the water was warm from the sun. After dinner (mini meatballs, among other things), Ashton was stripped (naked as a jaybird as my dad likes to say) and plunked right in to get the stickiness off. A significant period of time later, Ashton sneezed and all these brown chunks spewed out and into the pool and floated off into the water. I mentioned he was sans diaper so you can imagine how that looked. Nasty. 

I don't have any height/weight stats as there was no check up this month. Stay tuned this week for what will hopefully be several new posts! I am way behind. Oh, here's his official 11 month portrait on his 11 month birthday:

Oops! Wait! Sorry, that's not it. I told Jason that bathing suit was too small.

Here it is:

He happened to have a little cheek rash for the first few days we were on vacation but that has cleared up and he has been peacefully asleep since 6:50 pm. Time to pour myself a glass of wine* and go check in on the Bachelorette. Good night!

*If I'm being honest, my third glass.