wonderfully made: beau andrew

Whew. Deep breaths.

Beau is ELEVEN months old. Yes, we're in countdown mode and yes, we're also working through the denial stage. Can't. believe. it.

Beau is:

-waving "hi" and "bye" on command and also whenever the urge hits.

-clapping whenever he sees/hears clapping, we say "yay", or also whenever the urge hits.
-loving his doll from Santa now (pictured). We have lovingly named him Beauregard as an ode to my dad that jokes that Beau's real name is Beauregard. Beau LOVES him some Beauregard. The doll sits on the shelf above Beau's changing table and every time we change Beau he will look up at Beauregard and then look at us and grunt, repeating until we hand him the doll. Haha he isn't quite pointing yet but I think he'll pick it up pretty soon.

-saying"mama" and "dada" and knows who he is talking about. He's almost there with "dog" since he says "da" everything he is prompted while speaking to Motley. He LOVES her!

-crawling the 'right' way non-stop and getting super fast. He finally mastered going from crawling to sitting and he has multiple maneuvers that always keep us on our toes. He loves to crawl over things, specifically people, and is usually crawling to something so that he can pull up to standing.

-getting more and more stable on his feet, but I don't think he'll be walking before 1. He will lean up against things with his belly so his hands can be free to play but if he isn't leaning, he is always holding on with one hand for stability. He isn't really interested in pushing his walker (but loves to play with all of the toys on the front of it!) and whenever I try to get him to walk to me (with my help) he usually just lunges toward me. I'm not worried though, we'll get there!

-getting a tooth! It has been coming in for the past 2-3 weeks now and as of today, still hasn't broken through the gum. I figured it out after he had been sleeping through the night consistently and then all of a sudden started waking up at night to nurse. He did that for about a week and a half and now has gone back to his consistent sleep ways (phew). It's the bottom right tooth that is about to come through. You can also feel/see his top two teeth and his gums are lumpier than they have been in the past, so I think we'll have an influx of teeth soon! I'm already mourning his gummy smiles. :(

-nursing 2-3 times per day. I wanted to break him down to morning and night nursing only starting at 11 months and it looks like we are finally there! I need to work on eliminating the 3pm nursing session (which I feel will be really hard) and then we'll be almost done! My goal has always been to nurse to a year and I'm really excited to reach that point. There is a tiny part of me that is sad but I figure it won't hurt to hold onto that bedtime nursing session if I REALLY want to. We'll see.
-playing independently. He LOVES to just putter around the living room and explore all sorts of things. He has always loved hearing what things sound like when he drops them, bangs them against something, etc., and that hasn't stopped. He is also learning relationships and understands how shape sorters work (although he can't operate them solo yet). He also has started putting toys into his toy baskets and into other toys that open. We work on 'open' and 'shut' or 'close' and he loves practicing with his various toys as well as our doors. He gets his own toys out of the baskets and can play for a really long time by himself! He does tend to come check up on me every once in awhile to give a snuggle but I can't complain!

-drinking cow's milk. Along with weaning, we've started giving Beau a tiny bit of whole milk here and there. He hasn't had any reaction to it and isn't guzzling it up so we just offer it every couple of days or so. Eventually we'll give him cow's milk at bedtime (I guess?) so I'm glad he'll take a little bit of it now.

-understanding allllll sorts of words and commands. He can 'touch', 'push', find things (like his paci or certain toys) and he will look in the direction of the backyard, of Motley, of Mark, etc. when I prompt him. It is amazing how much he understands!

-turning into a toddler. We've had a small glimpse of toddler tantrums and I always feel like I need to buy some parenting books asap to prepare me for what's to come as soon as I see the 'look' on his face. It's half terrifying and half hilarious to watch the emotions come over him!

We spent our first night apart (in over 18 months - including pregnancy ;)) last weekend and it went really well. I'm not sure Beau ever noticed that I was gone and he stuck to his routine beautifully (with Mark's help, of course). I'm pretty sure Motley acted like she missed me more than Beau did. It was a relief to know that he handled it so well, though. Here's to more travel in our future!

In August, we are furiously planning Beau's first birthday party and enjoying another month of summer. I'm brainstorming ideas for his birthday gift and am considering this toy...any thoughts? I saw it on a friend's instagram and thought it was so cute! Anyway, I'm excited for kids to go back to school this month so we can enjoy less crowded areas like the library, park, and the mall!

Bonus: In an effort to 'keep it real' (plus it's fun), take a look at these outtakes: