Eleven Months!

D is 11 months old today!! Hard to believe that in one short month, we will have a one year old...a TODDLER! Somewhere along the line I think a fast-forward button was depressed...wasn't it just yesterday when G told me to take a preggo test just to make sure (we weren't actually trying) and it turned up positive??? Where in the world does time go? D is such a bundle of joy these days. He is the happiest kid, and so interested in everything. Just yesterday someone told us they thought his motor skills were "genius-like"...whatever. One thing we are working really hard on is not comparing D and not worrying about his progress other than to ensure he is on-track and not behind. And if he was behind, we would not worry about that either, just do whatever needed to be done to try and get him on track or wherever he needed to be. We firmly believe that kids need to be kids. For goodness sakes...they only have 5 years...a mere 5 years in the grand scheme of life to simply be a kid before school and life kick into gear. We enjoy watching D's progress as an individual so much! He could walk alone tomorrow, or not for another 4 months...it is his timetable and he will decide what is right for him. He understands so many words now...it is a total blast! He points at everything wanting to know what it is, and has started saying a few things too. Like "itty." Can you guess? Yes, we have two of them running crazy in this household trying to keep away from D. And "eeth." You know, those pearly whites in our mouths? Oh yea, and he is pretty proficient with "Dada" though "Mama" only comes out occasionally. Where is the fairness in that?! :) Only kidding...as long as he gives me and me alone his snuggles and smiles when I pick him up from daycare, I don't care if he calls me the Grinch!! He also likes to say "de" which we think translates to "this" as he says it a lot when he is pointing to things. The other less expected word is "ight" which he utters when he is pointing towards lights. And, we think he is starting to say dog..."og." How is this possible you might ask since we have no dog in our house? Our neighbors have a dog who D sees and hears frequently. He is all over the place with crawling...ne'er a corner or electrical cord in our house is safe. Walking to get the mail is now a whole new experience too...he likes to exert his independence and sit down whenever he sees something he wants to eat/lick rather than walk on by. Whatever he may be doing, he is just pure joy! We love him more than we ever thought it was possible to love something, and continue to feel so blessed that he is part of our lives. We can't even imagine life without him at this point, and there is nothing we left behind, in our pre-kiddo world, that we really miss being able to do with any type of regularity. Being parents has been one of the greatest experiences G and I have ever had. Here is a video of the "big boy" walking:

Oh yea, and he likes to eat furniture...so thank goodness most of ours is old, mis-matched and apparently perfect for kids :)! A really fun fact is that the table he is eating below belonged to my Grandparents, and I found a picture of it in their home from before I was even a twinkle in my parent's eyes.