Baby Will: 11 months.

For the last baby, can we keep counting months forever?

Will "turning" 11 months has brought tons of fun growth and development for him, tons of nostalgia for me. It's not sadness, necessarily. I'm very careful to focus on how pleased I am every time one of my kids hits a milestone, and I really am pleased for them. It's just that I like almost all of the stages of babyhood so much, when things turn out to be the last time I feel nostalgic for how quickly things are going. 

• The last time Will rode in his infant carrier.
• The last time we gave him a baby food pouch.
• The last time we quartered (yes) blueberries for him.
• The last time we gave him a bath in the sink.

None of it was intentional and we didn't know in the moment that it was the last time, it just was. 

THE GOOD NEWS IS that this little hunk of love is as wonderful as ever, completely engaged in his surroundings, eating all the things, sleeping like a champ, it's just all so good that I want it to stay exactly as it is even though yes duh learning to talk and walk would be good at some point.

Will's favorite everything still includes Beck, and her ownership of him is growing stronger all the time. She's obsessed with: helping get him up, flushing his poops, playing peek-a-boo with him, and taking his favorite toys because "my other babies really want these," which he seems confused by but not necessarily upset about. He absolutely lights up when he sees her, gets into some kind of full body shaking and kicking and squealing, and it is honestly my favorite thing to witness.

Of course, this comes with Will getting knocked over a good amount, mainly in places without carpet where he can bonk his head. He hasn't sustained any real injuries yet, but his scared cry is REALLY pitiful and Beck honestly doesn't seem to care, little psychopath that she is. The terror never lasts long and they move past it quickly, so far.

This week Will has taken a much bigger interest in crawling, almost the exact same time Beck did. He makes the funniest full-circle turns when he's sitting so that he can see things or reach without having to twist too far, and will roll all around large spaces without actually crawling. Just yesterday he got up and rocked on all fours, although I couldn't tell if he was dancing, humping, or starting to crawl. Stay tuned for more. 

What he lacks in forward motion, Will makes up for in cognition. He's not saying any specific words yet, but he responds appropriately when we talk about clapping, dancing, kicking, and banging. He knows the sign for "more" when he eats, and his satisfied little smile when his hand motions yield actual more food is the best thing ever. He makes a vowel sound that sounds a lot like the "eh" in Beck, so I'm betting that a variation of her name will be his first word.

Will is really into music and can deal with tiredness or hunger for a good amount of time as long as he's listening to music, which is great for annoying car rides. He does this little dance and wiggles his arms and legs like a very cute upside down turtle, and we can't get enough of it. He's one of those babies that is on the spectrum of chill-to-joyous, which is mainly the best place to be. He plays by himself and squeals so excitedly at his toys, but is equally thrilled when someone plays with him.

Teeth: no. Sleep: excellent. Food: yes please. Poop: 4-6 times per day. Send diaper gift cards.

I can't BELIEVE that it's been a whole year since I was sopregnant, feeling him wiggle around all the time, getting closer to my kidneys than I ever desired. Watching him grow is sad for me but so great for him and the world that gets to know him, and that's worth it. He's the greatest 11-month old I know.