11 Months

Height: 30 inches (72nd percentile)
Weight: 22 pounds 11 ounces (60th percentile)
Head Circumference: 19.1 inches (97th percentile)
Milestones: Ryan is now a full-blown toddler. The majority of the time he is walking and seldom crawls anymore, which makes me sad because he is growing so fast. He points at EVERYTHING, and i foresee the temper tantrums ahead when he points at something he wants and we don't know what it is he's pointing at. Although he still has separation anxiety and takes a few minutes to warm up to *anyone* other than Mommy and Daddy, he has become very social and will wave and smile at random strangers from the comfort of his stroller or chair. At the farmer's market yesterday he loved people-watching and waved at all the cars, and when we go to restaurants he will not sit still until he finds someone to smile or wave to. I think he's an attention hog. He is becoming more interested in putting objects in a container and how things work or what they do.
Favorites: Books! We moved all his books to the bottom rows of the bookshelf so he is constantly pulling them off the shelf and "reading" them. He especially loves the touch-and-feel ones. He also has a sudden fascination with the ceiling fans and feels the need to point to them at least 5 times every time we enter a room in case maybe Mama or Dada forgot they were there. He loves to play peek-a-boo by hiding around a corner and sticking his head out to "peek" at you.
Sounds: Ryan is understanding more and more words every day (although he isn't saying any of them). He knows who Mama and Dada are and says those words when he's in the mood (but never when you ask him to). Other words we can say and he will point or perform the action, such as "Ready to take your bath?" and he'll walk to the bathroom. If you ask if he's "hungry" or wants to "eat" (and if he is) he'll start smacking his lips. And if you ask him to "dance" he starts shaking his little butt, it is so cute! He understands "No" and will at least pause when he hears it but generally decides to do whatever he's doing anyway. He can shake his head yes and no, but only in response to *us* saying the words, not asking him a yes or no question and making up his own answer. I guess i'll have to start paying more attention to what i say around him. :)
Foods: We have been giving Monkey more and more new foods to try and he's doing great with eating a variety of things and feeding himself. He is nowhere close to using utensils yet (should i be letting him practice/play with those??) We had been holding off on most of the allergenic foods, but last week we gave him his first taste of peanut butter. At first there was a lot of smacking as he got used to the stickiness, but yesterday he stole 2 bites of Jake's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Last night he also had his first fish! Jake got some fried catfish at Williamson Bros and pulled out some of the meat and Peanut LOVED it, he ate almost half a fillet! I HATE fish but i should probably try to learn to eat it since it's good for you and as a family we could eat it more often. The catfish was actually really good! Next up is scrambled eggs and whole milk.
Hours I Let Mommy Sleep: Ryan has generally been a great sleeper since we have been pretty strict with a nap and night schedule, but for the past week or two we've had some trouble. He is transitioning to 1 nap a day and so sometimes 1 nap isn't enough but 2 naps makes bedtime impossible. For the past 4 days he has only had 1 nap a day and so far it is going really well! Bedtime the first night, however, was horrible. He went to sleep pretty easily but then woke up an hour later hysterical. After a few minutes when it was obvious he wasn't going to calm down i went in there to rock him back to sleep but he fought and fought sleep. So i put him back in the crib after 20 minutes. He got hysterical again so Jake tried to get him back to sleep, and again it failed. It seemed he was getting more agitated by us being there so for the very first time we had to let him "cry it out" and by the time he fell asleep it was nearly midnight. I hated hearing him cry and i hated that we weren't able to comfort him, as he was obviously overtired. I was dreading the next night but he only woke briefly one time and cried/whined for 10 minutes before going back to sleep. But last night was PERFECT! I just had to share on facebook "As i was rocking Ryan to sleep and singing lullabies (poor kid) he was cuddled in my arms with his eyes closed sucking on his pacifier. Never opening his eyes he reached up and pulled the pacifier out, said "Mama" and popped it back in before drifting off to sleep. Heart melt ♥" Here's hoping that the good nights continue! Other than the getting-to-sleep part he sleeps like an angel for nearly 12 hours.
Other News: I can't believe my little baby Peanut is almost a year old. Nobody told me they grow and change so fast!! I still have no idea what i'm doing about a birthday party, so i guess i need to get that figured out soon. Ally FINALLY moved to Canton!!!!! (I win!!) My evil plan is to now convince Jana and Jenny to move here next year. And then Phase 3 is Carla, Phillip, Kristyn, and Jefferey. It's a long-term investment.

Now that Ally is back Ryan and Lucas can finally hang out! Already Peanut is absolutely fascinated by Lucas. On closing day we went to see the house for the first time and Ryan attempted to crawl around after Lucas and then took some of his very first steps to him! (This was after i accidentally threw Ryan head-first into a light, but i digress) He was so interested in how fast Lucas could walk and run and i totally blame him for teaching Ryan to walk too soon because ever since that day he has been full steam ahead and toddling all over the place.

And a preview of what's to come...