11 months... yikes!

I am in complete disbelief that my baby is 11 months old. That's only one month away from being and entire year old! Where has this year gone? It seems like just yesterday I was sleeping in a hospital bed with my brand new, tiny,  infant snuggled up on my chest. Sometimes I miss that. Ok, a lot of times I miss that- snuggling with Owen. He is so active and curious and constantly on the go that he rarely has time to snuggle with Mommy these days, and when he does its for literally less that two seconds. He'll put his head on my shoulder and pause for a second and then spring it back up as if he suddenly remembered something really important he needs to do.

This month has been a long one. O caught a bad stomach bug in the nursery at Catholic Camp and it lasted almost 10 days. He spent most of that time with only breast milk and pedialyte as nourishment. He lost a little over a pound, but I'm hoping he'll have gained it all back plus some by his one year appt.

We've also had to deal with some painful teething this month. His top left tooth cut through at the beginning of the month without an issue, but now the top right is cutting and the poor baby is feeling it. He's always been a great sleeper and its waking him up at night and making his really fussy and clingy all day.

He has quite the temper. He knows what he wants and doesn't want and he'll let everyone around know, too. The whining has begun and it is not even a little cute. We're trying to nip it in the bud, but it's tough since he's still too young to do any kind of real disciplining. Right now we're doing lots of "No, sir!" and redirecting. He also loves to do the body flop if you pick him up when he doesn't want you too. That's super fun...

Our favorite places this month are the pool and the playground in the mall. O is such a little fish. He'll dunk his face in the water and come back up with a big smile. He loves to "swim" and kicks his feet as you guide him through the water. For the longest time he would freak out if you tried to lay him on his back to float, but now he'll do it leaning up against Daddy and clinging for dear life to the back of his neck. It is the sweetest thing to watch. We like the mall play are because there's nothing O can't touch or play with. He can crawl around for an hour without needing me to follow after him and make sure hes ok. He loves feeling independent and I love the break!

He's starting to be more interested in books. His favorite is "Ten Little Lady Bugs." When we're playing in this room he'll spot it from across the room and want to read it 10 times. He also loves to make animal sounds. He'll watch you make the sound a few times and you can see him thinking hard about how to do it and then he'll try. He's such a smarty pants!

He is a total chatter box. From the minute he wakes up right up until he's being rocked to sleep, he's talking away. "Dadadada" Maaaamamama" "Mommommom" "Fafafafa" "Badada" and all kinds of other gibberish. He's also starting to try to sign back some of the signs I use with him, especially "all done" and "milk."

I am so proud of the little boy he is becoming, but I also hate how fast time seems to be flying. I plan on soaking up every last minute of Owen's final month as an infant.