11 Months

Caleb...

Today you are 11 months old.  It does not seem possible to me, but here we are...11 months!  I cannot believe we are only 1 month away from your first birthday.  Time has flown these past few months.  I hope I can savor these precious moments with you while you are still my little baby.  You will always be my baby, but will only be this little for so long. 

 Okay, so maybe you aren't my little baby...but my big baby!  I don't know how much you weigh, but I can tell you how heavy you feel...very heavy!  Mommy is getting quite the workout carrying you around.  You love to be carried and snuggled still, which I love.  Thankfully, though you are very mobile, you still love to ride in the sling and just be held still. 

Our days are spent together, you and I.  You are my little buddy, we do everything together.  Daddy has been gone long hours this summer, so it's you and me kid.  Though the days are long...you have been a joy to be with, I have no complaints.  I hope you feel the same way! :)  We sure do miss Daddy and can't wait until his schedule settles down again and he is home more! 

You love your Daddy!  We listen together for him to get home each night.  When we hear his car door shut, I say..."Caleb, Daddy is home!".  You get very excited, I scoop you up and we watch at the door together.  As Daddy enters you squeal with delight, flap your arms, clap your hands, all smiles and say "Da-da" it is adorable.  I think it melts your Daddy's heart each time.

You are loving playtime.  I love how playful you are.  You crawl everywhere and are so adventurous... crawling under, over, between, behind and around everything.  Your jumperoo, high chair and the kitchen table have now become your favorite things to explore underneath.  You even love to play little hide and go seek games with me, I hide behind something in the room and you giggle and crawl over to find me.  It's so fun :)  You have figured out the shape sorter.  It's a favorite toy for us to play together with and we love to help you learn.  Daddy thinks you have signs of being very inventive, as you strive to put the circle shape in the triangle opening.  You love to play games and be tickled. 

You know what the word "no" means.  We don't use it much yet, but there are certain things that we must use the word "no" for.  You have such a gentle and sweet spirit, you obey almost each time. :)  It's amazing to watch you already thinking through the decision to obey.  I pray the Lord gives you an obedient heart, first to Him and also to us as your parents. 

What else are you up to?  You sure do enjoy opening and closing your dresser drawers, taking your clothes and blankets out.  It really is very cute, I don't even mind having to continuously put the clothes and blankets back in the drawers because I just think it's so cute that you have figured out how to get into things.  You also have grown to love taking the books off of your little book table one by one, that's pretty cute too.

As we drive around town, we are usually listening to a Glee or Shane and Shane song and I can hear your sweet little voice singing along.  You love music and to dance.  You also love other babies and kids.  If we are at Target or Southpointe (our usual outings) and we see another baby, you love to stop and say hello and smile.  Today we watched some YouTube videos of babies laughing and you just thought that was the funniest thing ever.  You also love to look at photos of yourself as a little-little baby and photos of Mommy and Daddy as babies.

You eat lunch and dinner now, mainly just fruits and veggies still.  You really enjoy all foods and have yet to refuse to eat anything that is pureed.  You do refuse to eat anything that is not pureed though.  Daddy and I joke that you may be on a puree diet the rest of your life. We know that someday you will eat table food, we won't rush you.  I think you just don't like the texture or you are waiting for a few more teeth to come through or something (as of now you only have two bottom teeth and two fangs on top) :) 

You are wearing clothing in the sizes of 12 months, 18 months and even some 18-24 months.  Some of your 12 month tops are getting a little too small already, I tried to put a onesie on you yesterday that I couldn't even fit your arm through the sleeve...chubby! Needless to say, you ended up wearing a different onesie and  I had to pack that other one away... which always makes me a little sad.  It's summer and you have been wearing shorts a lot, which doesn't fare well with crawling all over the place.  I have been putting Aquaphor on your knees twice daily, seems to help.

A recent extra cute thing you have done is trying to whistle.  ADORABLE.

Caleb, we love you SO MUCH.  You are our precious boy and we are so blessed and privileged to have you in our lives and be your parents.  We still can't believe, even after 11 months, that you are ours!  You are such a joy to be around.  Your smile lights up a whole room and your eyes show how much you love.  If we could keep you this little forever, we would.  But we know that God has big plans for your life and He is going to do so much through you as you grow into a boy and a man.  We are excited to watch Him shape you into all He longs for you to be, we are ever thankful that you are HIS.

xoxo,

Mommy