growing up: 11 months

William is my little buddy. We play all day and I have so much fun with him. I've lately been trying to remember to get down on the floor and play with him rather than just watch him or do the dishes. I still have to get those things done but I also spend plenty of time wrestling and tickling, pushing trucks across the carpet, spinning tops and playing the harmonica for him.

peekaboo is a favorite around here.

At this point he:

- has really discovered his voice. He loves to babble sounds with lots of expression like he's convinced that what he is saying makes sense to us.

- has discovered his singing voice. Whenever I sing around the house, he "sings" high notes softly and holds them out. I really hope he keeps this up!

- has learned to dance to the music of the most annoying toy in the world. I would turn on the mute button but it's so cute when he bops his head and bounces.

- has taken a couple of steps on his own but still not showing much interest in doing it full time.

- will drink formula but only out of a sippy cup with a straw. (I'm still nursing but have decreased to about 3 times a day so that he'll be weaned before our New York trip).

- is sleeping really well. It's so nice that I can put him to bed at 7 every night and then at 7 the next morning, I pick up a very happy, well rested boy out of his crib.

- will finally let me put shoes on his feet. I have the most adorable shoes that he never got to wear because he would curl his toes as soon as I tried to put them on. I wasn't worried about him wearing shoes before but now that he likes to spend a lot of time on his feet when we go out (cruising or walking with help) I felt like he should start wearing shoes.

- hates hats. 

- has become a real daddy's boy. All day long he says, "dada da da da?" like he's asking me where David is. And then when David walks in the door at the end of the day, he screams and laughs and crawls as fast as he can to the front door.

photos by Lori Hull photography.