11 Months...

So, I have to admit, I'm going through some "baby-withdrawal".  I can't believe how John Parker is growing and learning and gaining independence everyday.  I want him to always depend on me, but at the same time, I love watching his little type-A personality come to the surface :)  He is officially walking EVERYWHERE now, and he doesn't want to be held EVER.  I cherish the few moments, like first thing in the morning, when he will let me hold him and he snuggles up to me.  I adore the times when I say "give Mommy a huggy" or "kissies, please" and he toddles straight over to me to give out his love.  He is so genuinely sweet and innocent, and I can't believe how fast the past 11 months have passed by.  Before we know it, we will be celebrating a birthday, a new birth to our family and then, before we know it, Christmas all over again.  Time continues to fly.

A few weeks ago, John Parker really started walking on his own initiative.  He was still half crawling and half walking until about a week ago, when he suddenly decided he likes walking better!  He still crawls occasionally, but mostly just to a place to pull up so he can walk.  He hasn't started standing up on his own balance yet (without using something to pull up), but he is trying and practicing daily.  It's so funny to watch him get up on his feet, with both hands on the ground, and then try to figure out how to stand all the way up.  He is so fearless it amazes me.

He plays constantly and is very good at entertaining himself.  He is still exploring all his new toys from Christmas!  He still naps at least twice a day, at 10am and 130pm, but if we are traveling/running errands during one of those times and he just gets a short car nap, he'll sometimes take another nap around 4.  We try not to let him nap after 6 so he'll go right to sleep at bedtime.  He's sleeping from 830 or 9pm to 8 or 830 am.  He usually sleeps well all night unless he's teething or sick, which seems to have been happening a lot lately, but as of the past week or so, he's been sleeping like a rock!  Speaking of teeth, he has 5 total, 3 on top and 2 on bottom, and the 4th top tooth is trying to break through now.

He's eating pretty much anything we eat if possible - sometimes he still gets baby food if we are in a pinch, but he prefers table food.  This week for dinner he has eaten vegetable soup with saltine crackers, macaroni and cheese, and garlic tomato orzo with chicken.  It's definitely difficult to make sure he is always getting nutritious meals, and I REALLY don't want him to become a picky eater, so I'm trying to feed him a good variety of veggies and proteins.  He loves yogurt, so he gets that at least once a day, and he loves oatmeal for breakfast.  So far, he LOVES to eat.  I think sometimes he eats more than I do!  I switched his morning bottle to a cup about three weeks ago, and last week, I switched him to a cup for his 330pm milk.  I also went ahead last week and started giving him whole milk at those two times - our pediatrician said we could start making the transition at around 11 months, and so far he's taking it well.  He doesn't drink as much out of a cup as he did in a bottle, but he probably drinks around 8 ounces of milk a day.  At bedtime, we are still giving him a 8 ounce bottle of formula - hopefully he will be weened from bottles by 12 months, but that last one is going to be hard to give up!

He is talking a lot too, and says uh-oh, Dandy (our dog's name), Daddy (not just da-da anymore), MaMa, Daa (we've learned it means PawDaddy), hey dar, nahnah (no no), won dow (want down), won dat (want that), duh (duck), buh (book) and lot of other untranslatable words that I'm sure we will figure out soon!  He's totally precious and absorbs all my energy and love, and I still can't believe how in love I am with this little 23 pound bundle of fun.

Weight: around 23 pounds
Clothes: 18 months
Diapers: size 4
Shoes: size 5

Here is newer walking video (taken a few days ago)