11 Months!

Oh boy, next time I write this Ronan will be 1.  Every month I say this, but how is it that time passes so quickly? I'm not a fan.  Sometimes we miss that little baby. I may be crazy to say this, but it doesn't seem fair that they're only babies for a few months. That's probably because he was so great. Ask me how I feel after the next one because I have a feeling we're in for it...

That said, we are absolutely loving every single day with Ronan, chasing him around, watching his personality continue to come out, having undecipherable conversations together. I LOVE being home every day and watching his life unfold. What a blessing.  Ronan is fun, wild, independent and (yay) getting more snuggly.  He loves when we play with him, but he is so happy to play on his own too.  This month Ronan discovered how cool his room is ;) The books, the stuffed animals, a dresser full of neatly organized clothes waiting to be destroyed. I love that he can crawl up and down the single step and right on into his room. We've baby-proofed, but he has quite a bit of freedom. And he enjoys exploring his world! Especially taking everything out of a box/basket/container and then putting it back. I love watching his mind work!

A few other milestones and thoughts for this month:

• At the beginning of the month, he finally conquered the sippy cup! We are very excited he can finally hold it up to his mouth and tip it back enough to get a good drink.  About a week later, he drank out of a straw for the first time!
• Just a few days ago, Ronan stood on his own for more than a just a second-more like 10 seconds! He seems pretty sturdy and quite proud of himself :) I'll catch him doing it more and more often, but always when he's chewing on something. I think he's too distracted to realize what he is doing.
• Ronan is a talker. What, you're not surprised? Must be genetic ;)  He talks pretty much continually, pausing only to grunt and groan if he is exerting himself. Crawling must be easier now because he talks instead of grunting :)
• Pointing is another primary method of communication. We love it! No question about what he wants or where he wants to go!
• Still quite the eater! Still has food jealousy.  With Patrick getting home later, I'm finding it difficult to prepare dinner with a toddler clinging to my pant legs screaming "NA NA NA!" - Ronan speak for FOOD NOW! This starts as soon as he sees it or sometimes smells it. I'm working on getting dinner going much earlier than normal so he's not too hungry when we get start the whole process. This is a big change for us, but so much better for our evening routine!
• "da-ee" has been added to the list of words (doggie). Ronan loves Kohly. This is now the first word in the morning/after nap.  Every four-legged creature is now "da-ee". Actually pretty much everything is "da-ee"!

We had an old door left over from our yard sale and it wasn't until I found a buyer that I realized I wanted to take Ro's 11-month photos in front of it. Of course, she was coming to pick it up at 5:00 on the 30th (his month birthday) and of course Ronan took the longest afternoon nap of his entire life. After he woke up, I scrambled to get him dressed and outside for photos. For some reason our front yard was a revolving door for about 30 minutes so i only managed a few shots. And he looks like a zombie! I think they are sweet, but we tried again a couple days later :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Airplane!

 

Everything is about pointing now.

 

Another airplane. He's making an airplane sound here :)