11 months.

T-minus 4 days until Miles turns ONE YEAR!! I really can't believe it. I mean, wasn't this just yesterday? But before that happens, gotta sneak in the 11 month update just under the wire.

11 months. Our biggest accomplishment of the month: SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! If you had asked me 10 months ago what my prediction would be for when this would happen, I would have naively guessed sometime in the next month or so. Ha! I'm so funny. There were a handful of nights as far back as May that he slept through the night, but with all of the traveling we did, we kept ending up right back at square one with that one night feeding he couldn't seem to shake. It wasn't until the end of 10 months/beginning of 11 months that he truly and consistently slept through. And now when he does (rarely) wake up, we are able to get him back down without a bottle (never thought would happen). Now if only we could push that 6:30am wake up call ever so slightly.

Okay. So that was sleep. It needed it's own whole, long paragraph, I think! Onto the rest of the news. He took two steps the other day (!!) but still isn't technically walking quite yet. Even so, he is constantly on the move. We call him the fastest crawler in the east -- it's amazing how much ground he can cover. This month also brought his first words. He now says mama and dada while looking at us and "asking" for something (as opposed to just babbling to himself), so we're counting those as his first words :) And dancing! He bends his knees and bounces up and down and it's so dang cute.  

He's a HUGE flirt with the ladies. I get comments about it pretty much daily. That smile, those eyes! He charms them at the park, in the bookstore, in line at Food Emporium. He could be throwing an absolute fit one minute, and the next, cooing and smiling at some lovely, unsuspecting woman in the elevator. :)

He can be surrounded by all kinds of shiny toys, but inevitably he will reach for a single plastic ring, or one of his socks, which he will then carry around with him for the rest of the afternoon. His will seems to be getting stronger, as well, a good sign of healthy development, but trying for his tired mama at times when it plays out as a battle over getting into the stroller or taking a piece of found trash out of his hand.

Thankfully, he's still a great eater (although I hear that changes around a year). For now, he will still happily eat green beans, peas and most fruits.

(excuse me while I eat this cheerio)
His new bff is his own reflection in the mirror. Oh how he giggles and squeals when he sees himself! Adorable. Sometimes, if he's really excited, he'll even give himself a big, wet kiss :) Ha.

Bath time is maybe my favorite time of day. Dan and I do his bath together and he is so happy and so cute that I just can't get enough. He wildly kicks his legs and squeals with delight and it's in those moments that, no matter how hard the day has been, my love for this sweet baby boy wells up and spills over. And then much later, after bottle and teeth brushing and storytime with daddy and twinkle twinkle little star and prayers, when his footie pajama clad body is curled up in a little ball in the corner of his crib, we sneak into his room and just stare. And sigh. And wonder how on earth this all came to be.

Blessed.

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