Oh dear, Johnny is 11 months old (as of Friday…whoops). Less than one month until he is ONE. Until he has made one full trip around the sun. Good gravy.

He is much better at walking but still looks a little like Frankenstein when he moves. It’s pretty hilarious. He cannot stand up without holding onto something first.

He has said “mama” for awhile and he’s starting to say “bye-bye” but I don’t know if he’s using it properly, or if he’s just babbling it. It won’t be too much longer and he’ll be talking up a storm! It’ll be great to hear what’s going on in that brain of his.

When he eats, he says “mmm” with appreciation. I’m so glad he’s not a picky eater.

Can I confess something? Ok, thanks, I will: I love buying him toys. I swore that I wouldn’t go overboard with toys, but I just can’t help it. I don’t think I’m quite overboard, but I need to cool it. Today, we bought him a Glow Worm.

He LOVES that thing. He smiles so big when it lights up! I wanted him to have it because I thought it might help him get to sleep, since its face lights up and is so charming. It’s too soon to tell.

Nursing is still going well, yay!

He’s getting pretty heavy. I don’t know how much, since he hasn’t been officially weighed in awhile. I’m guessing 23 lbs. I’m still able to wear him in my beloved Baby K’Tan, thank goodness.

He’s able to wear some t-shirts that are size 12 months, but he’s most comfortable in size 18 or 24-month items. Pants are 18 months, and we have to roll some up so he won’t trip.

He can clap his hands and wave.

Oh, and he has his first tooth finally! It’s on the bottom and it’s so little! I think it’s not in all the way. I wonder when more will start to show up.

We’ll hopefully be in Indiana for his birthday (as long as the weather holds up) and we’ll have a small party. I’m going to make some monkey cupcakes.

Johnny is cute as could be, ever-so-cuddly, and we just love him to bits!

1. I am so excited for the holidays this year! Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s. All of them.

2. We’re having Thanksgiving with my friend, her husband and son and possibly more people. It’s nice that when you can’t be with your extended family, you can be with friends!

3. I’m planning on making lots of things to bring, including spinach balls (haven’t tried this recipe. If it’s a dud, I just won’t bring ‘em!), Carol’s broccoli salad, Kathy’s pretzel salad, and these hilarious tiny Turkey dinner cupcakes. I hope mine come out looking like these.

4. Shane’s brother and his brother’s girlfriend are coming here for Thanksgiving weekend. YAY! We always have fun and I’m sure we’ll have a blast no matter what we end up doing.

5. I bought a fiber-optic Christmas tree that can sit on our table. It’s less than 3-feet-tall. It’s festive. I hope Johnny doesn’t bother it too much. So far, so good.

6. Johnny’s birthday is December 20. Christmas is December 25. He will be one. Thus, he will not know or understand that his parents did not buy him any gifts for those days. Ok — we did buy one thing, a tent, but we don’t know when we’ll give it. You see, we figure he’ll be overwhelmed with stuff from other people. Maybe. It doesn’t take much to overwhelm a little dude. So we’ll wait and see how it goes, and then give him presents from us at a later time. Spreading out the holiday cheer, we are. Cuz the boy doesn’t need more toys right now.

7. I was concerned about a lack of a place for Johnny to play over the wintery months. Mall playgrounds aren’t that fun and they’re usually covered with snot. Museums are fun but they’re kind of a trek for us. I was thrilled to find out about an indoor playspace specifically for newborns through kindergarteners. Plenty of creative toys, things to climb on, explore, and have fun. This place has a no-sick-kids policy, which should help all of our immune systems. It’s not too far from where we live. Excited!!

8. I guess we could just say that a membership to the indoor playground is like a big Christmas present to Johnny.

9. Speaking of that boy, he is cutting in his first tooth. It’s starting to really become visible, but only when he smiles a certain way. He’s doing an imitation of a Jack-o-lantern.

10. We’re planning on going to Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night, as long as the weather is reasonable. We went two years ago and it was really something! I hope we can get some good pictures. Namely, one we can use for our (free!) Christmas photo card.

11. Johnny is wearing size 18 and size 24-month for his shirts, depending on the brand and the fit. He can fit into some 12-month shirts, but not really. The 12-month pants don’t fit him anymore, either. So big! Also, I don’t think they size infant clothing properly. He’s not actually the size of a 2-year-old.

12. I’m almost finished with all my Christmas shopping. I’ve never even started shopping this early in years past.

13. We love our new church. It’s a different church that I mentioned awhile ago. This place is much smaller (maybe a congregation of 30-40 on a busy day) but we feel it’s exactly where we belong. We both look forward to going all week, and get a lot out of the service. Plus, everyone there is so darn friendly! The web site is um…not exactly functional, so Shane and I are going to fix it.

14. I like list blog posts like this. I can tell you lots of bits.

Johnny took his first few steps while we were in Indiana during our last visit, but he hadn’t shown any signs of wanting to do it again until recently.

Over the last few days, he’s figured out how to keep his balance a little better and actually walk several steps to me, Shane or a fun item. Yay!

He’s getting braver and more daring as time goes by.

It might be awhile before he’s able to walk full-time without assistance or falling a lot. I’m not going to rush him.

Like Johnny’s great-uncle Mike told me: You spend the first two years trying to teach them how to walk and talk, and the next 16 you’re trying to get them to sit down and be quiet :).

Johnny’s two little bottom teeth are sprouting through. I don’t know how long it takes for the whole tooth to pop in, but they’re coming!

It’s just amazing that it’s only taken him 10.5 months to go from a tiny, 6-lb. blob of baby to a sturdy, blabbering, giggling playful, mobile little dude.