Finger Painting!!

Last week in an effort to do something different in our day, I decided that perhaps the Wee One was ready to try his hand at finger painting. To say we made a mess would be an understatement. While we were in the midst of our project, someone came to the door (some type of salesman) and looked us up and down (Caleb in my arms) and said, "Looks like you guys are having fun". Here are some pictures to show just how much fun we had! :)

Getting started.

becoming acquainted with the paintbrush.

becoming acquainted with the paints...

examining his work.

I thought I did well by just having him be in his diaper... I did not even think about my own clothes.  See his little handprint on my pants?

Getting the hang of it...

but clearly prefers his hands :)

squishing the paint between his fingers- he's my kid for sure! :)

Painting himself.

The plate is so colorful!

11 Months Old!

Boy has life been busy lately. I wanted to post this last week, but we've been so busy lately, that I just haven't had time. This week, things will slow down some though, which is nice.

So before I get into the busy things, I must talk about my big 11 month old boy! :) He turned 11 months last Friday (on the 25th). We celebrated by driving to Buena Vista for a reunion with some college friends that I will talk about later. He also celebrated by coming down with a cold. :(

Here are some photos from this past month...

We worked on self-feeding.

He still falls asleep in my arms and I just love it. 

He loves strawberries. He's also had blueberries, watermelon, plum and some others recently.

One morning before getting dressed, we had a little photo shoot.

He started making this face ALL the time!

I just love this sweet face.

We went camping.

He played in a baby pool (or any pool) for the first time.

We celebrated my first mother's day with him in my arms (I was pregnant last mother's day)/

Another morning with mom and the camera. :)

He has gotten more and more confident with his standing.

and stepping. We're up to 6 or 7 consecutive steps... 

There's that face again.

I mean, could he be any cuter?

I just love him!

Trying on a crown I'm making for him (for his birthday).

You can't see it in this picture, but he has his two top teeth now. 

Loving that teething ring.

When he's outside, rather than crawling around, he gets around like this now... I guess it hurts his knees too much.

We spent one afternoon shooting off foam rockets from our porch. Caleb thought it was the best thing ever!

And then he thought he'd try eating it.

My very sleepy 11 month old.

We went to the doctor last week and Caleb was 23 lbs. 7 oz.
We tried measuring his length at home and I think he's about 28 1/2 inches long. (He hasn't grown much lengthwise).

I just can't believe my big boy will be 1 year old at the end of this month. We just love him so much and are so grateful to have him in our lives. 

This month:
-Caleb has mastered standing. He can pull up on anything to stand and can push off from the floor to stand.
-He is a squatting pro. His balance is amazing.
- He has tried lots of new foods.
- His eating habits have definitely changed. He's not been in the mood to eat a lot of times. (He just decided the other day that he doesn't want bananas for awhile).
- He is up to 7 steps and can stand up on his own and take steps without any prompting.
- He can stand up and then bend down to pick up something and then stand up again... walking's gotta be coming soon, I think.
- He has had some pretty good nights where he's slept for 7 hours or longer. Though recently, that has not been the case.
- He likes to eat independently more and more.
- He dances if you tell him to "dance".
- He is understanding more and more. He loves to read and continues to have an increased interest in looking at and listening to books being read.
- He mimics sounds a lot more.
- He can open and close the CD player in his room by pressing the button.
- He knows just where to press (with his pointer) on his "Guess How Much I Love You" book to make the rabbit kiss and say "I love you".
- When you are holding Caleb in a lit room and say, "Turn off the light", Caleb will look for and reach for the light switch and then turn it off.
- His comprehension of language is steadily increasing.
- He can bang two objects together (a new skill).
- He loves to play patty cake and loves to make your hands clap.
- He still enjoys playing "I'm gonna get you".
- He's still happiest when he's outside.
-He understands and moves his fingers out of the way when he is closing a drawer.
- When traveling in the car, if the car stops and turns off, he makes his "I want" noise to let you know that he wants to get out of the car.
- When changing his diaper, if I sing "Stop in the Name of Love", he'll usually stop wiggling and let me get his diaper changed correctly.
- He loves puffs and has started drinking water from a sippy cup with a straw.
- He knows just how to melt my heart. He will look at me and give me the sweetest smile in the world.

Just a Little Update...

Today, we went to the doctor. I showed the doctor the videos that of Caleb eating. The doctor watched the short one 3 or four times. He said he wasn't sure what it was but agreed that it was unusual. I asked if it could be related to food allergies and mentioned that Caleb had tried several new foods recently. He said that it could be that he is refluxing during those times. I had mentioned that Caleb does still have reflux and that he has had 3 major episodes since his 9 month check-up. During these episodes, Caleb sounds and looks like he is struggling to breath and then finally, it comes out of his mouth and nose and ends in tears for my sweet boy. It's a traumatizing experience for both of us, truly. The doc thought maybe it could be that during those times that he's done these weird head movements, he's having reflux problems and so he put Caleb back on Zantac. I hate the thought of having Caleb on medication. But he said to try it out for a couple of weeks and see if it helps him at all. In the meantime, though I am also to set up an appointment with a pediatric neurologist just to check it out- just to be sure... so this way, we'll rule two things out (or figure out that it is one of those things). He is not concerned at all because Caleb is developing as he should, but he wants to play it safe, I guess.

He also examined him physically to make sure that it was nothing more- besides listening to his chest and checking his ears and eyes, he checked his teeth and tonsils to make sure that his tonsils weren't enlarged (which he thought might contribute to difficulty swallowing).

So that's that. I'll make an appointment with the neurologist and hopefully, we'll be able to get in soon. Oh yes, and then sometime after Caleb turns 1 is when we will do an allergy test, though he feels that that is kind of early. It would be nice to know if we should be eliminating anything from Caleb's diet. I asked him about dairy- because up to this point, Caleb has not had any and he thinks we should wait until we have more answers before giving him dairy. So... I will have to research some yummy dairy-free cake recipes for his birthday.

On a different note, Caleb is just a wonderful boy. He is such a delight. He will be 11 months old on Friday and I just can't believe it. More on that later though...

Thanks to everyone who commented and made suggestions/expressed their concerns or commented otherwise. I appreciate it. :)

Oh yes!! I must mention his sleeping- it's still irregular and some nights are better than others- but last night, he slept from 8pm to 6:30am. He did wake up briefly twice (that I know of), but didn't even cry. Yay!! Maybe we'll have another night like that tonight. (That's the longest that he's slept since he was like 3 days old).

My happy teething boy. :)