eleven months

When we returned back from the Cape on Saturday, Sam was waiting at the door for us, and he exclaimed, "Oliver looks so much bigger!" And it's true.  Sometime over the week, he started to turn into a little boy.  Not quite a baby.  He is still pretty little, I know, but when he's the only baby around, we think he's getting pretty old.  He babbles all the time, called me "mama" when he was reaching out to me, took his first wobbly steps on his own, had his first haircut, and waves goodbye when people leave.

(Pre- and post-haircut.)  He wants to be moving all the time.  He stands up in the bath, in his crib, everywhere, and he is an expert at finding paths to cruise along so that he can go from a safe table to holding onto the wall in an entirely different room in about five seconds.  He can walk on his own for a few steps, but doesn't seem to realize it, and still needs to work on his balance.

I've mentioned before how much he loves walking while holding onto our hands, but now it's progressed so that he has very definite opinions about where he wants to walk.  He will lead us around the house, exploring and touching every single thing we pass.  It can be annoying, especially when your back is hurting, but it is also really fun, to see what things he finds interesting and how exciting everything is to him.  Even a tiny piece of dirt.  Babies are weird.  I mean, we will offer him something delicious, like a slice of avocado, and he drops it on the ground, but he leaps for a coaster or a piece of paper and eats it happily.  Weird.

He loves exploring, seeing new places but also being safe in my arms when there are strange people around or something unexpected.  Whenever there is a new noise, he whips around to investigate, and he really adores getting attention from people.  He especially adores it if I'm holding him, and he'll smile and lay his head on my shoulder.  The other night, he woke up and had a hard time falling back asleep, so he put his head down on me and we cuddled together, something he never wants to do.  It made missing all that sleep worth it, to have him snuggle with me and remind me that he won't be this little for much longer.  I'm going to enjoy the last of his babyness, as he becomes more and more of a toddler every day.

He learns new things constantly.  He loves to play games, especially the chasing game.  He squeals and laughs and runs away when we pretend to chase after him, and loves when we catch up to him and tickle him.  Whenever Sam comes home and takes him off to play for a little bit, Oliver will turn to watch me as if expecting me to come chase after him, so I usually do. He loves when we do silly things and right now finds it hilarious when he accidentally hurts us.  We really need to work on that.  He will sometimes sit and play on his own, something we try never to interrupt because it's so magical.  He will babble away, hitting his cups or exploring a toy.  He still doesn't crawl on his hands and knees, but does this army crawl that I guess is effective enough for him.  He can pull himself up on just about everything, and last week he pulled the entire shower curtain off the wall when I thought he could occupy himself in the bathroom while I showered.  Oops.

He is far more delightful than I ever imagined.  I love just about everything he does right now, and I can't believe how much fun it is with him around.  He laughs a lot, enjoys just about everything (even when he is being stubborn) and will definitely give us a run for our money as he gets more and more independent.  I think this might be one of my favorite ages, even as I miss some of the tiny newborn things he used to do.  It makes me want to have ten more babies, he is so sweet and silly and fun.