Eleven Months!

No, that's not how long it's been since I was consistent at blogging, though it does feel that way.

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Tommy is almost a year old! And we're long overdue for an update.

So I'm about to gush about how awesome he is.

Ready? Go!

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First of all, I think this has been the most fun couple of months yet.

Being a mom is hard work, but it is SO rewarding.

Watching my little baby grow up and learn so many new things every day is just

mind-blowing

and amazing

and wonderful.

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I am so blessed and

I have never been so in love.

(Sorry Nate)

He's about 30" tall and somewhere around 22 pounds.

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He's walking. All by himself.

Just yesterday he figured out how to stand up from the ground

without holding onto anything for support.

I'll miss the little "downward dog" pose he did trying to get the hang of it.

He used to get really mad if you didn't let him hold your hand to walk him all over the apartment,

but he's a little more independent now.

He still comes and takes my hand plenty often.

I think he likes the company,

and so do I.

He's super smart.

I mean, I can't believe how fast this kid learns.

Allow me to brag about his vocabulary.

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His favorite words are Dada and Dat (that)

but he also says:

Hi

Mama

Sack (snack)

Baba (bye bye)

Crsh (crunchies)

Ight (light)

and

Baku (vacuum)

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He tries to repeat words all the time too.

Some favorites are:

Dakey (blankie)

Ugck (yuck)

Tasth (trash)

Dasth (dance)

Gafspth (glasses)

Mesthp (mess)

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[S's are hard- think Daffy Duck saying "desthpicable"]

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And of course he makes all sorts of other fun noises that I don't understand.

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We also play the "where is" game, and he can point to:

Mama

Dada

Light

Bike

Snack

Blankie

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He still LOVES his bath.

Every night Nate says, "Tommy, is it bath-time?"

And his whole face lights up and he hustles off, leading the way to the bathroom.

Then he stands at the edge of the tub while I strip him down

(he knows to step out of his pants one leg at a time)

and bounces impatiently with a huge grin while we wait for the water to fill up.

It's adorable.

Current Obsessions/Quirks:

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Tommy loves the lights in our house.

All of them.

And he knows how to turn the switch up and down to turn them on and off.

[He turns his bedroom light on every morning.]

He points at all the lights and wants me to hold him up to them so he can touch them.

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He also loves the quilt I made for our bed.

The first day I put it on, he got super excited and rolled around on it, laying his head on it

and flopping into our pillows.

Now he just loves to play on our bed, which he can climb onto by himself.

(It's low to the ground, about a foot high)

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He gets very upset when you take anything away from him,

but lately, the worst has been when you throw away his diapers.

Yep.

He cries and cries.

"That was my favorite diaper! Wahhh..."

It's seriously just as bad as not letting him have my cell phone.

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He loves the vacuum cleaner. 

He crawls around it in circles or crawls in front of it really fast,

like he's playing Chicken with it.

Sometimes he pats the head (?) of it while it's on.

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He likes to see how close he can get to cords that are plugged in before we say no.

Sometimes he actually listens and wont touch them, but other times he just goes for it.

Too bad you can't really explain "dangerous" to a baby.

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He is obsessed with the drawer under our oven.

Nate finally taped it closed because Tommy wanted to climb in and out of it again

over and over and over.

He usually ended up getting frustrated and crying and driving us crazy.

(But I might let him play in it sometimes when I need a distraction in the kitchen...)

There is one cupboard he's allowed to climb into, and he still likes that.

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He loves music!

He has ever since he was teeny, but now he can dance!

Even if you just say "music" or "dance," he'll start to bob up and down or rock side to side.

And when you actually play music, he gets really excited and boogies.

Pretty much the cutest thing you've ever seen.

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He has finally gotten better at taking naps

(though he likes to poop as soon as you put him down for his first one, of course)

and at night he has been sleeping till 6am.

Thank. Goodness!

The 5:00 thing was getting really old.

He's also been sleeping through the night on most nights, though sometimes we have to go plug in the pacifier. Then he's out cold again. Occasionally he gets a bottle at night, but only if he cries a lot.

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He's eating all sorts of tasty food.

I'm pretty sure he thinks he's ready to eat "real" food only and no more of that pureed stuff,

because he's a total mooch!

He wants everything we eat, all the time.

Luckily he's got four teeth (yay!) so we let him try most everything.

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His favorite food is cake.

Or perhaps the cream inside of Oreos.

But he doesn't get those very often. :]

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He also loves fruit and every type of bread he's tried:

Pancakes, waffles, toast, plain bread, crackers, pizza crust...

Don't judge- he likes to try things, and it's fun to watch his reactions.

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He also loves water and is starting to realize that juice is pretty tasty too.

He tolerates veggies, but we think carrots are his favorite.

He hates peas.

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He likes to stick his tongue out and say "ahh" when his mouth is full.

(I swear we didn't teach him that.)

He is actually a pretty serious baby and it's pretty rare for him to really laugh.

But when he does, it's awesome.

I will do whatever it is that makes him laugh as long as he'll keep laughing,

no matter how silly or ridiculous it is,

because it's the best sound in the world.

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I love my baby.

I can't believe it's almost been a whole year.

As much fun as it has been and will be to watch him grow up,

sometimes I wish he would stay this age forever.