John's 11 Months Old! 6-30-13

John loves to shake things. He is getting very good at using his wrists. He can wave, (although he doesn't really do it as a greeting yet. Just for fun) and he shakes toys all the time. He really likes rattles.

We used to barricade the living room area between the couches with some couch cushions, and John liked to bounce on them a lot. And then one day, he learned how to crawl over them! So we had to figure out a new plan, and we are creating a toy room with baby gates in the sunroom.

John is getting so big! He weighs 25 pounds now. Next month we'll get him measured for his 1 year appointment! It is hard to believe our baby is almost a year old. It has flown by so fast.

John is a READER! Hooray! I am so excited that John loves to read now. I am working to translate John's books into Spanish so I can read them all to him in Spanish and Seth reads them in English. He loves books that have 1 big photograph on each page with 1 word. He loves to look at the picture, and then he helps turn the page. It is so cute! I love to read with him. We have a couple books that have pictures of kids and babies, and he squeals in delight when he sees them, and often tries to turn back to those pages when we're half way through the book.

John still likes to bite books too! He has eaten his fair share of board books, so we have to be careful to not leave them on the floor.

On Father's day, John wanted to try some of our dinner, so we let him try chewing on a potato. He likes pureed food mostly, so anything with a texture usually throws him for a loop. But, he likes to hold things and put them in his mouth, so the potato worked pretty well. I don't think he considers it as food yet, but it's a start. We only had to occasionally stick our fingers in to pull out bites of potato that were too big. All in all it was very fun to watch this cute baby eat.

John is a good eater. His favorite foods right now are spinach, kale, hummus, vegetable bean soup and marinara sauce (pureed of course)

John learned how to clap with his hands together. One morning, I went to get him up from his crib, and he saw me, and just started clapping. He clapped throughout the day, and in the evening, when I was nursing him before bed, he would take a few sucks, pull off, wriggle his hands free and then clap with a big smile on his face, then go back for more, then start all over again. It was hilarious He was so excited about his newly discovered skill.

John has learned how to crawl. He'd been army crawling for a while, and bouncing on his hands and knees. But then one day, he took a few crawling steps, and then BAM! He was off. Once he figured it out he wasn't looking back.

John has loved his newly found independence. He's always been a curious little guy, but his curiosity seems to have increased exponentially since he can now explore like never before.

I've been trying to baby proof the house as fast as I can, which is no small task. Every time I feel like I've figured it out, and I've made the place safe for John, he learns how to get into something else that I didn't think he could. I often underestimate his abilities and rapid learning capacity. Each day I set up obstacles in his way to contain him, and each day I find myself saying "Oh, you can open cupboards!" "Oh, you can climb over that" It seems as if the more things I put in his way, the stronger, more creative and resourceful, and the more capable John becomes. He develops and grows so much through the struggle. If I pay attention, I learn many lessons about life from John. I am better able to understand Heavenly Father's plan for me. I am reminded why the Lord lets us struggle through adversity and overcome obstacles, because through the effort, we learn and we grow. If we work hard and have faith in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, and in ourselves, we become more like our Father in Heaven.

Now, John crawls so fast that if I turn around for just a second he's gone! On to the next adventure!

John is still a biter. He bites everything he can get his hands on. Which makes it kind of strange that he doesn't like to chew on food. He'll bite it, but then he has a huge piece in his mouth that he doesn't know what to do with. :)

I am not perfect at Spanish, but I can speak enough to talk to John in Spanish during the day. I'm learning a lot as I go. John responds to 3 words now "Potty" "Leche (milk)" and "Agua (water)"

John is getting very good at entertaining himself as long as there are plenty of things to get into or explore. But he really loves to play with other babies, well not with them, but around them. He loves to see kids and lights up and squeals and laughs when he sees them.

Especially when he's sleeping, we just look at John with wonder and think, "This is our son! He's our precious little son." It is a miracle that this sweet boy is ours, and we count our blessings.

Thankfully John hasn't figured out how to crawl up the stairs yet. We haven't thought of any ideas of how to block them off. But he loves to play at the bottom of the stairs. and bang things.

John is a talker. He loves to babble! His favorite things to say now are usually, "gully gully; gilly gilly; golly golly; aaah aaaah; dada; mama; baba; giggle giggle; liggle liggle."

John has had his second hair cut! I just had to trim it around his ears because it was really growing long over them. He has such cute ears.

John loves paper. One time I let him get into the recycling box for a good time, and he loved it! He flapped that paper around like he had grown wings. He was pretty good at crawling with it too. I let him play with the paper until I saw that there was ink all around his mouth...probably not the best thing to eat. He wasn't very happy when I put it away.

John went swimming for the first time this month. He has always loved baths, so I assumed he would like the pool. He did! He didn't splash a lot, but he kicked a little and would feel the water. He liked to pat the water, almost like he was petting it. 
We also got this baby pool, and John got to swim around a little while we washed the car. He really liked it! We want John to be a strong swimmer, so I'm glad he's liking it early!

John has 6 teeth now! He's got 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. He doesn't like to show his top teeth, but from the right angle you can see all of them. You definitely have to be careful not to stick your fingers between these chompers!

This month has been full of milestones for John. I don't even know if I remembered them all, but we have loved watching him learn and grow. He is doing so well. He is sleeping really well now; I think for now we have gotten into a rhythm that is really working. He goes to bed at 7pm and usually sleeps until 6am. He takes about 3 naps a day, and goes down pretty well. He nurses 5 times a day, and eats baby food 3 times a day. Things go really well when we have a routine going. He thrives on it. People often exclaim that he is the happiest, easiest baby they've ever seen. I think the work we've been putting in with John help him sleep and eat and use the potty has really payed off. But I also know that John is a very special spirit. He is so content and sweet, and every day, we thank the Lord for sending us this precious soul to care for. He is a joy in our life, and we love being his parents!