11 Months Old!

Yesterday was Charlie's 11 month birthday. It has been a crazy month, settling into our temporary home with my parents, adjusting to the ridiculous heat, and getting back into the swing of our new "regular" life. I'm so happy that the packing and moving is over for now... It is much easier to play with Charlie without boxes towering overhead! Charlie has been busy this month!

This month...

• Charlie has had separation anxiety, especially with strangers. Dropping him off at the YMCA's daycare for an hour each day hasn't been possible... he cries until they come and find me 10 minutes later. Let's hope he gets over this before fulltime daycare starts next month!
• He's been learning some new words. His vocabulary is: dada, brother, get it, ball and the sign language for "more" and "all done". In the mornings, he signs more and says brother over and over until I bring him to see Carter. Precious! 
• A favorite game is "Goodnight, Wake-up!".  Charlie lays his head down and pretends to go to sleep until we yell, "wake up, wake up!"... it is super adorable.
• Some new teeth are in! Charlie has 7 now, and hopefully he will have a little break before number 8 and the molars start coming. Teething was super rough this month. 
• Charlie loves to climb the stairs. We have to watch really closely, or he will scale the entire staircase when we aren't looking - eeek! 
• He still loves balls more than any other toy. He loves to put the balls in a small basketball hoop, or sit in the pack&play and throw dozens of balls out onto the floor. It's a fun game! 
• Of course, he is still eating lots. He's a carb-lover, and particularly likes bread and goldfish crackers. Frozen cherries and frozen peas are a close second. 
• Charlie refuses to sleep through the night. He is still waking up 2-3 times every night and often takes some convincing to go back to sleep. We will be working very hard on this, so he can sleep through the whole night before I return to work next month. 
• He seems to think he can pull up and climb on everything. Who is this little monkey child?! He hasn't been interested in walking - just scaling furniture. Sigh.loves to swim! 
• We have been taking advantage of Grandma and Granddad's pool, and he especially enjoys the waterfall. He is trying to figure out how to grab the water. So cute! 
• He has been enjoying having so much family around. Aunt Kiki is here, visiting before her wedding next weekend. He loves her!! He has also had visits with Grammy, Aunt Jessica, Uncle Ryan, and cousin Grayson, and lots of great friends. It is so good to be back with so many of our loved ones! 

Charlie's personality is really developing, and it is fun to see how his little mind works. He is so interested in figuring out how things work, and putting things together. He is starting to get much more vocal to try and express what he wants/doesn't want. I'm excited to start planning a celebration for his birthday, but a little wistful that my little one is already getting so big. I wish I could have just a little more time with my baby, but toddler-hood seems to be sneaking up quickly.We sure do love our little almost-one-year old!