eleven!

I'll admit it.  I cried when I finished this little photo shoot.  11 months.  Only 1 more to go until he's no longer a baby.  I waited for years for this baby to join our family, and I was so happy when I was finally holding this tiny baby in my arms.  Then I blinked and he turned 11 months old.  Each day these past two weeks, as we get closer to his birthday, I feel like I have to hold on a little tighter to his "babyhood," as if his first birthday somehow is an end.  But then I remember that while he won't be a baby much longer, he will always be mine, and I know that the next stage is awesome.  And so is the one after that.  And the one after that.

This next picture is so funny.  He always makes this cute little face where he puts is chin down and looks up from under his eyelids.  It's usually accompanied by some pretty awesome babbling.

He also makes this face.  A. Lot.  His huge, wide-mouthed smile.   He is such a happy baby, and he just couldn't possibly smile any bigger!

Some fun things about Krew at 11 months:

~He took his first step the day before he turned 11 months.  I stood him up, and let go of his hands, and he stepped toward me.  He actually did this same thing four times that day. He was pretty proud of himself!
~When he nurses, he likes to play with my eyelashes, or pat me on the cheek
~He has become quite attached to his Mickey Mouse doll, and wants to snuggle him when he wakes up.  It's too cute!
~He has been saying "dada" for a while.  And I finally got a "Mom" out of him as he was calling for me down the hall.  But he still says "dada" all the time, and rarely says "mama."
~He likes to pick up my phone, or a calculator or remote control, hold it up by his ear and jabber away.  I wonder who he's calling!
~He's very good at animal sounds.  He's been growling when asked, "What does a lion say?" for quite a while, but now he also knows what a puppy dog says, what a duck says, what a sheep says, what a cow says, and what Krew says (Krew says "ha, ha, ha")
~We love Krew's laugh.  It often sounds fake or forced, even when it's not.
~He can clap his hands!
~He points to things he wants now, or the direction he wants to be taken
~He loves turning on and off the lights with the light switches