For the past week, Caleb has discovered all of his toys have a specific purpose. Before this epiphany, He would play with his sorting shapes by dropping them over the playpen and shake his stacking rings just to hear their noises. One day I heard him whining in the living room, obviously frustrated with something. I looked over and saw him trying to stack the rings but couldn’t place them right. I went over to show him how they stacked and how they came off. He was enthralled and immediately followed my pattern. A few minutes later, I heard him whining again. This time he wanted to screw on the lid to his wooden blocks. He has probably seen me do this before and wanted to do it on his own. I showed him, he copied., I went back to work. Then again, a few minutes later, more frustrated whines. He was trying to put his sorting shapes in the designated slots. I probably spent a good hour or two showing him how all of his toys were meant to work. Now he stacks his rings instead of shaking them, and puts the shapes in their own slots all by himself. It’s amazing how quickly he learns new skills when he puts his mind to it.

Of course I have to include a picture of my little puzzle-solver:

Here’s a video that’s a few weeks old. I think it’s so funny that I’m putting it up now regardless. Don’t mind the paint cans and clutter. We were in the midst of redecorating the living room:

I have to be honest, this month really snuck up on me. And on top of that, as soon as I realized today was Caleb’s 11 month birthday, I realized his 1 year birthday was less than a month away. Begin panic mode.

I have a ton of ideas for his first birthday party, I just don’t have enough time to see them all through. I was able to create and order his birthday invitations, so that’s one check off my list. I’m also going to be working on a few other secret ideas this month.

Okay, now on to Caleb. He’s currently recovering from an odd virus that flared up on Saturday. He had a fever of around 101 from Saturday night to Tuesday night but no other symptoms. I really didn’t even know he was sick until Sunday afternoon. Up until then I just thought he was hot and kept taking off his clothes and wondering why he wasn’t cooling down (bad Mommy!). Then on Wednesday, a strange rash broke out on his chest and back. The doctor had a look at it today and said that it was just a result of the virus and will clear up on it’s own.

Caleb’s on the verge of walking. He does the classic “walk a few steps to Daddy/Mommy” bit like a pro and can stand pretty steadily by himself. But he’s kind of a chicken when it comes to actually walking more than three or four steps. If he’s walking towards me, he’ll take a couple of steps then lunge the rest of the way where I have to catch him or he’ll do a face plant into the carpet. I’m pretty sure once he musters up enough courage though, he’ll be walking all over the place.

He’s pretty much completely on table foods. He’s a little fruit bat just like his Mom. He loves any and all kinds of fruits. I even gave him an unripe kiwi once (you know how sour those can be) and he downed it without a pucker. Other foods he likes are cheese sticks, multi-grain Cheerios, avocados, peas and Boca Burgers.

His vocabulary is steadily growing. He now says the word “dada” to only Dada. He wont say it all day long but once Andy comes home, That’s all he says. It’s cute. He can’t quite make the “Mmm” sound yet so my name is currently “Bava”. He also likes to whisper to his stuffed animals. He has this little dog that I’ll animate. When the dog talkes to him, he’ll put his head down and make this tiny little voice in baby talk to it. He’s also become a bashful little guy. Often in the supermarket, A stranger will come up to him or the cashier will talk to him. He used to just stare at them, analyzing what they do until he decides if he’ll smile or not. Now, he gives them this impish grin and look away, or if I’m holding him, bury his head into my shoulder.

Anyways, I’ve written more than a month’s worth of Caleb-isms so I’ll leave you with this charming picture:

Caleb took his first steps on Saturday. He took one or two wobbly ones that morning, then three good solid ones at his Grandma and Grandpa’s house that afternoon. Finally, he decided to impress everyone and took three good ones at a family birthday party. I think he was just showing off by that point.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while now. Things have been super busy over here with getting the photography business set up and Andy has more than his fair share of side projects at the moment. This is Caleb’s new “thing” he likes to do. Not sure why or what he’s doing, but it’s hilarious. Oh, and at the end you can hear him going “bababa” I’m pretty sure that’s his version of “mama”. He just can’t get the “m” sound down. Enjoy:

A few days ago, the temperature outside plummeted overnight from boiling to “ahhhh”. Before it crept back up to boiling again,  Caleb and I went to the park for a fun photoshoot.