11 Months Old!

Brendan turned 11 months old two days ago and is becoming such a little boy.  His development over the past weeks/month has been astounding.  I think it was most apparent when his crib arrived in Maine and as we were putting it back together I realized that the mattress was still set at the highest level - meaning that he wasn't even pulling up on things the last time he had slept in it!   It had only been six weeks but in that time he went from a very basic crawl to pulling up and cruising all over the place.  He also has mastered the stairs.  One of his favorite games is to crawl up one or two steps and then stop, look back and, as soon as he catches someone's eye, smile, laugh and start heading up the rest of the stairs as fast as his little body will take him.

He is also developing a strong sense of what he likes and doesn't like.  He will swat away my hand if I offer him something he is not interested in, particularly at meal times.  Miles is a happy camper because 75-90% of what I offer Brendan usually ends up on the floor.  He doesn't seem particularly interested in food which surprises me because he is such a big kid.  If I'm lucky I can get a few teaspoons or bites of a meal into his little tummy.  He continues to nurse and nurse and nurse.  I'm starting to get just a little concerned because when I return to work he's going to be in for a bit of a surprise to find that not only does he not have Mommy Moo - he's only got a sippy cup with some cow's milk in it.   He weighs 23# on our home scale these days and has been pretty stable at that weight for the past month or so.  He has however stretched out.  I haven't actually measured how long he is but he has outgrown lots of his clothes and actually seems more comfortable in some 18 month items than 12 month items.

He is sleeping through the night without any problems - the only thing we are working on is getting past the 5am wake-up.  He's doing a bit better... at least now he will take the binky and go back to sleep until about 5:45-6am when he nurses.  Then he will sit quietly in his crib and "read" books and play for anywhere from 10-30 more minutes.  Since coming to Maine we have finally had a chance to get into a routine of reading a book before nap time and bed time.  He really seems to enjoy this time together and turns the pages, looks and talks at the pictures and sits contentedly for long periods of time.  I love seeing him develop a love for books.

As for language, he continues to say Mama and Dada although they are still rather non-specific.  He also started to say uh-oh! last week but it's intermittent.  I think it's cute that both of my boys' first words were "uh-oh!"  He is able to sign, "down" when he wants to get down from his chair and at times he will sign "more" by clapping his hands together or "all-done" by sticking his hands up in the air, but these are not real consistent yet.  I think I'm most excited to see his language continue to develop.  Now that Ian is such a little chatter box it makes me excited to know that very soon Brendan will also be able to share with us what is going on in that little head of his.

Perhaps the most exciting new aspect of his development is his personality and interactions with everyone around him.  He and Ian have started to really interact.  Brendan will try to imitate his brother - making the same sounds and laughing when his brother laughs.  He watches EVERYTHING that Ian is doing and tries to join in what he is doing.  Unfortunately, Ian isn't always interested in having his little brother involved, particularly when Brendan knocks down his blocks or breaks his lego truck.  But, in general, they seem to have a good time together and Ian is actually quite patient and understanding of his little brother.  Brendan is also getting big enough that I'm not as worried about him getting hurt by Ian and I've enjoyed seeing them "wrestle" a few times.  Brendan is definitely not a push-over.  I'm actually quite impressed by the strength of his likes, dislikes and desires.  He easily lets us know what he wants (or doesn't want) and usually gets what he wants.  

It is such a gift to have this time off to be with him and watch him develop from day to day.  I continue to be amazed that this little being wasn't even here a year ago and now look at him!  He's almost a little boy!