11 months

This month has been all about boating, boating and more boating! You've been on the boat three times and all three times you've fallen asleep as soon as we hit the St. Clair River. It doesn't matter if its day or night. I'm sure its the up-and-down rocking motion of the waves that, just like a fairy godmother waving a spell with her wand over your eyes, you fall asleep literally within a minute of hitting the river. So now we know that if we ever can't get you to sleep some night we'll just have to pack you up, launch the boat and head out to the river. Its official, you love the boat. I should'nt have been worried, it must be in your blood, passed down from your father. As soon as the water warms up, we'll have you floating and splashing in the water all summer, that is, when you're not taking your usual nap under the front console.

This month has also been about walking, walking and more walking. Everywhere! The official "First Step" report came in from Grandpa; the story goes that you saw him from across the room and let go of the chair you were holding onto and took about 5 steps towards him. This was a few days before your 11 month birthday. However, I may have to file this report as "incomplete" since I was not there to witness it in person. The small print says that the first steps are not official unless Mommy sees them with her own eyes. The next day we were at home and I was sitting on the kitchen floor while you were using the kitchen wall as walking support when you ran out of wall so you just went for it down the back hallway. I was in shock! I held my breath and watched you make it about 6 or 7 steps before you fell face first down on the carpet. I let out a loud cheer and a round of clapping; you popped right back up and haven't stopped since. You walk down the hall, across the patio, in the grass (yes! in the grass now!), to anything and everything, laughing as you go.

You can do a full fledged run, just as fast as those little legs will carry you. Sometimes they don't move as fast as you would like and sometimes they move faster than you expect. Your arms extend out to your side, your face becomes very serious and off you sprint. You learned to walk so quickly and with that no one ever told me that once you began walking you would stop crawling. You must think crawling is for babies and your past that now. But I miss your crawling!

You say Dada more than Mama. You love to give big, open-mouthed kisses like this: O. You are very cuddly and loving. You give hugs to your baby doll while saying "Awhhhh". You wave bye-bye, even when no one's leaving. Your first official word is 'kitty', pronounced "KeKeKe" (also sometimes interrpreted to mean 'puppy' when you see or hear a dog). You love Tikky and Tikky loves you. You eat real people food now. You had your first bite of salmon off the grill and loved it. You took your first bath in the big tub. You love to roll around and wrestle on the couch or the bed with lots of pillows. You love to shut doors. You love going up and down and up and down the stairs. You love to splash in water. You love your sippy cup. You don't like the sand. We think you're laugh is the best sound in the whiole world.