11 Months

Dear Jonah,

Today you are 11 months old! I still cannot believe how time has flown by -- it doesn't seem possible that your first birthday is right around the corner! You are learning so fast these days. You can clap your hands now, and you respond with clapping when I say "clap clap clap!" Well, you do when you're in the mood, anyway. You are working on standing, and can do so for 5-10 seconds at a time. You're very pleased with yourself when you're standing -- it's awfully cute. You also understand the phrase, "sit down," and usually comply -- you just don't understand that we want you to continue sitting down, not get right back up again!


You have also started feeding yourself, and now woe betide the person who does not keep the Cheerios flowing to your tray at mealtimes! You LOVE to stuff your little face, and you almost don't care what it is, as long as you can do it yourself. Cheerios are a definite favorite, and you recognize the container that we keep them in. If you see it, you will reach for it and say, "mmm, mmm!" very plaintively. You still eat baby food, but definitely prefer feeding yourself. You have four teeth, and I think you'll have a couple more before too long.



You are getting more and more social, and have started actively flirting with people. You follow your target as they move around a room, trying to catch their eye, and then twinkle and grin when they notice you. You are starting to get more comfortable with lots of other people, which is really nice for Daddy and me.



Grammy and Grandpa and Uncle Matt were in town this month, for Aunt Lindsey's wedding! You had the cutest little bow tie to wear -- it matched my bridesmaid dress -- and you slept in Grammy's arms through most of the ceremony. You were so good at the reception, even though I was busy most of the time and it was very hot. (We changed you out of your long sleeves and bow tie after the ceremony, because it was in the 90's and neither church nor the reception site were air-conditioned!)



Samantha is still one of your favorite "toys," and you will frequently start giggling when you notice her. She doesn't have to be doing anything for you to find her amusing, which just cracks us up. Grammy just bought you a set of nesting cups with little sortable pieces, too, and you are having a lot of fun putting things in the cups, shaking them so they rattle and make noise, and dumping out the contents and throwing the cup away. We also like to stack the cups into a tall tower, and then encourage you to topple it. You are happy to oblige, and love the resulting clatter! You are also on a constant quest for technology. If we leave a remote, a game controller, a phone, or a camera within your reach, you make a beeline for it, and are delighted when you get it! Your delight is always short-lived, though, because we never let you have it for long.



You've started laughing when you hear other people laughing, which has the hilarious result of you laughing at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, because you hear their audiences laughing when we watch them on TV. I don't know if you're laughing because you think laughter is funny, or because the social cues to laugh when others are laughing are already there, but it's fun to watch you do it!

You are getting to be a very fast crawler and cruiser, and sometimes you play chase with us! That's lots of fun. You don't always understand the cues, but when you do, you shriek and laugh as Daddy chases you down the hall. You love to stand and walk (with the help of an adult), and it is so obvious that you can't wait to walk -- and run -- on your own.



You love standing on the armchairs and looking out the window. There doesn't even have to be anything interesting happening -- you love watching the world outside. I took you to the park last week and you were fascinated by all the kids running around. You really wanted to get into the water -- which I hadn't prepared for -- and loved the bubble machine that another family brought. You went on the swings for the first time, too! It wasn't your favorite, but you tolerated it for a little while.

We have a lot of fun giving you baths, too. You love to splash and crawl around in the tub, and would play happily in there for hours if we let you. Once you're done, you love to look at the baby in the mirror. Actually, you like the baby in the mirror anytime -- you like the baby in the window, or in the oven door, too!



The last week or so has been really, really great, sleep-wise. I hesitate to say it, for fear that the improvement will disappear, but you have been napping well, generally, and even sleeping 5+ hours at night! You nap for at least an hour-and-a-half most times, and it's getting easier to put you down. And you've been getting up only once at night, the last few days -- even if you have been waking up for the day at 5:15 or 5:30, which is waaaay too early. But it's such an improvement that I don't want to complain (much), and I feel like we can see the light at the end of this long, sleep-deprived tunnel. And you are almost always thoroughly charming after you wake up -- we have lots of fun in the morning, even if I'd rather sleep later.



You keep getting more and more talkative, and you're adding more and more "words" to your babbly vocabulary. We don't detect any specific meaning behind any of the sounds, but I'm sure that's not far away. It's evident that you understand a lot of words, both English and the smattering of sign language we use with you, but so far you haven't used any back to us. I can't wait to see what your first words will be!

My little Jo-nut, you are such a joy to us! You are cute and funny and, overall, delightful. I couldn't love you more if I tried.

Love Always,
Momma