11 Months!

Dear Elliot,
Happy 11 months Baby Boy! Your infant days are quickly coming to an end and I am pretty much in shock that I am going to have a toddler next month.

There was simply no getting you to sit for a photo this month--you are all about the standing! 

You started standing on your own a week or two ago and are up to taking about two steps (unassisted) at a time. You'll start to walk toward whatever it you're after, and then be like "screw this, crawling's so much faster" and drop to your hands and knees. I have a feeling it's only a matter of days until you're full-on walking though. It's so crazy to think that last year at this time you were squirming around in my belly and now you are about to walk. 

Yep, my son rocks pink pants :)

You are loving doing more communicating, especially with your hands. You wave at everything (people and inanimate objects just the same), move your fingers around to "twinkle twinkle little star" and throw your fist up in the air when we say "victory!!" 

You say "mama" pretty consistently now and say "dadadada" for Dad. You do this funny "um um um" sound when you're eating something you really like that I'm pretty sure can be loosely translated to "yum." 

You give the cutest open-mouth, slobbery kisses, but they are reserved only for me (and occasionally your Glow Worm baby or your own reflection in the mirror). 

You are totally obsessed with books. You'll have a room full of toys and go straight for the books. You've started showing a preference for certain books and will push away titles you don't feel like listening to when we try to read them to you. Lately you have been especially into books with flaps you can open and close. Current favorites are Bugs in a Box, Actual Size and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

You really like being around other babies/kids. I started taking Tuesdays completely off of work so we have been doing lots of fun play dates with your BFF, Hunter. You also love going to ECFE (early childhood family education), aka "school" on Thursday nights. I just enrolled you in once a week (3 hours) day care at the local community center so you can have a bit of socialization time. You start Monday!

It's really the greatest joy I've ever felt getting to be your mama and watch you grow up. I hope you know how incredibly loved and cherished you are (not just by me and your dad--you really lucked out in the grandparent department too!)

I love you Bubs!

XOXO,

Mom

Ps. I have a couple new articles up at my About.com Baby Shoes site! If you are thinking about buying your baby their first pair of walking shoes soon, check out Buying Babies' First Walking Shoes; it has info on figuring out your child's shoe size, what to look for in a good fit and more.

Also, you all know I love finding a good bargain, so I wrote up a list of some of my favorite places to find quality baby shoes on a budget. Check it out here.

Lastly, here are some fun ways of incorporating baby shoes in photos!

Another New Gig

Dear Readers,
I have recently started another job! I will be writing all about baby shoes as the new Baby Shoes Topic Writer for About.com. Who would have thought I'd actually ever use my Nordstrom kids' shoes experience?? (I sold kid/baby shoes all there all through college). Don't worry, this will not become a baby shoe blog, but I will be sharing links to my articles here and there. If you'd like to check out my work, my first four articles are here:

• The Best Baby Booties to Give as Shower Gifts
• Baby Inches to Us & European Shoe Chart
• Top Holiday Dress Shoes for Baby Boys
• Kick-Proof Baby Shoes

I think I am going to write my next articles on first walker shoes (since Elliot is just about at that stage--what??) and spring styles. If anyone has any suggestions, please please share them in the comments! El is currently standing on his own and starting to take a couple steps (mainly just lunging for things that are just slightly out of his reach). I just ordered him some Star Wars Yoda Robeez for once he starts standing/walking outside. Seriously, way too cute.

Big update coming soon! Love you all!

-Kristin

Welcome to the Double Digits!

Dear Elliot,
I'm a bit late with this post (shocking!) but happy belated 10 months! I can't believe you're in the home stretch to a year old, to toddlerhood. It's nuts.

You have changed so much in the last couple weeks. It's been an absolute joy to watch your unique personality coming out more and more. You're silly, spunky, sweet and a total people-lover. You love putting on a show when we have friends over or if we're out in public. Mealtime is your favorite time to entertain everyone, usually with goofy noises like this:

You've been more and more interested in "playing" with other kids/babies lately too. We've been going to the new play area at Southdale (for Minnesota friends, it's super nice! You should definitely try it out!) and watching you interact with the other children there is one of my favorite things about being your mom so far. You are especially fond of the older, 2-3 year old girls (after the older ladies already!) and will follow them around like a cute little puppy. You get this adorable shy/flirty/excited smile when they give you attention and it literally makes me laugh out loud.

You love to play and explore. You crawl around and pull yourself up on everything. Aside from the mall play area, you have become quite attached to a large cardboard box that is now a permanent fixture in our living room. We call it your "throne" because you spend so much time just sitting on top of it. And you also really enjoy walking with your walker from Grandma Cook. You have gotten so fast!

You are also way into food these days. You are still nursing about 5-6 times a day, but also eating breakfast, lunch and dinner with us. I've yet to find anything you don't like eating. You still only have one tooth (!) but you are incredibly effective with it and are eating pretty much exclusively table food now. Some of your favorites include cheese, shredded chicken, peas, clementines/mandarin oranges, pasta, kiwi, scrambled eggs and black beans. We have started ordering you your own kids' meal at restaurants because you eat so much!

I also have to say you are quite brilliant. I'm sure every mom thinks their kid is the smartest kid in the world and I am no exception. You catch onto things really quickly and I can just see your mind at work when you experience new things. You've been mimicing things we do a lot more, too. The other day we started working on "so big" and it was so amazing to me how you picked it up right away:

Sleep? Meh, that's not going so well. You're not the worst sleeper in the world, but definitely not the best either! There are many nights I look over at the monitor to see this:

A cute little baby butt that should be sleeping

Finally, I am very happy to report that you are still my super snuggly mama's boy. When you're tired you love to cuddle with me and those cuddle sessions are some of the greatest moments of my life. 

I love you baby boy, more than I'll ever be able to put into words.

XOXO,
Mom