life with a 10.5-month-old

(Technically, he's past the halfway mark, but I can't bear to admit that just yet.)

Jack has been such a blast over the last few weeks. Every day, we see a little more of personality and it's been so fun. It sounds ridiculously Leave it to Beaver-ish but we sort of just sit around and enjoy him and laugh and high-five because of how awesome he is. And cute. He's WAY cute.

Don't get me wrong, we have our moments of despair. He's a teething baby-on-the-go with a case of separation anxiety and a strong will, so there's bound to be some times of tears and trouble. But I've usually forgotten about that by the end of the day. It's a gift we mothers have, I think.

So what's he up to, you ask?

He's learned what "no" means and will shake his head back and forth when we say it. And he's remembering what's off-limits. He'll crawl up to something forbidden, then stop and shake his head at it. The other day he crawled off when I wasn't paying attention and when I went to find him, he was sitting in front of Rudy's water bowl - shaking his head.

Yes, it's as cute as it sounds.

And he does this thing when he's eating where he pretends like he's going to give you a bite of whatever is in his hand and then at the last minute, snatches back and eats it himself. He thinks that is HILARIOUS. He gets this little sly twinkle in his eye right before he does it, too. Then he just laughs and laughs. He did it to the dog yesterday but we're trying to break that habit because, well, that's how you lose a finger.

 

He also carries things around in his mouth when he crawls. I don't know where that came from but if wants to keep a toy with him, he just chomps down on it and goes on his way. In this picture? It's a hair clip that he pilfered out from the bathroom cabinet.

Tonight, we were goofing off before bed and I was laughing and he was laughing and all of a sudden, we were just laughing together. Not at anything, just together. He's turning into a little person. When did that happen?

Oh, I could just squeeze him.

*****

PS: Thanks for all the advice and feedback on that cleaning post last week. There was some good stuff in there and I'll probably do a follow up post.

PPS: Don't forget about that $50 Minted.com giveaway - open until Friday!