11 Months

How can my baby be 11 months already? In many ways it feels like I just gave birth to him a few weeks ago, and now his first birthday is right around the corner. He's certainly growing and changing, and I've started to notice lately that he's less and less of a baby and more of a toddler now.

Dayton is walking more than crawling these days, but still falls frequently and has to crawl to get to something so he can pull up to stand and start walking again. I can't help but smile as I watch him toddle around.

He's quite the climber, and I gave up the battle of constantly pulling him off the hearth of our fireplace. I figured he'd learn to climb down eventually and probably take a few small tumbles to the ground in the mean time, and most of the time now he is able to get off by himself safely. I love his mischievous grin in this picture.

Anything is a step stool for this kid. He's very strong too and moves large toys all over the place.

He loves being a big boy and trying to keep up with his sisters.

Thankfully, he's been sleeping really well at night for the past couple of weeks and napping well too. I hope this is a permanent change although it will probably only last until he has more teeth come in.

I've also decided that wrestling must be something that is innate in boys. He loves to wrestle and climb all over anyone who might be laying on the ground. And he smiles and laughs the whole time.

CAUTION: Don't read this paragraph if poopy diaper stories gross you out. You know those stories people tell about children playing with their poopy diapers? Thankfully, we never had that happen with either of the girls, but Dayton did it for the first (and hopefully last) time just yesterday. I could tell he was in his room doing his business after he woke up from his nap, so I gave him about 5 minutes because I was in the middle of something. Felicity wanted to go in and play with him, and just seconds after she went in, she informed me there was poop all over in his bed. Somehow it leaked and squished out and down both of his legs and then he proceeded to get it all over in his bed. Nate was gone running, so I had to deal with the mess myself and was dry-heaving in the process. Nasty. At least Nate came home just as I was finishing up the bath, so he helped with cleanup.

Dayton's also finally learned to clap and waves more than he used to. It seems like anytime I try to teach him things like this, he just stares at me like I'm crazy and has no interest. Right now I'm trying to teach him to blow kisses, but he just laughs at me. I've accepted the fact that he prefers to do things on his own timetable, and my teaching and encouragement does very little to change that.

I love my sweet boy and can't wait to get going on planning his first birthday party!