A few days ago, Nathanael passed his 11th month. Yes, that means here in one month, he will be a year old. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Of course the boy is being cute.
Communicating:
"Puh" when he stands at our knees, or beside the chair, indicating "Up." He uses that sound for other things, too, so I'm not going to qualify that one as "first word."
A few days ago, he held up his hand, and made a sound similar to "no." Again, not repeated, but worthy of note.
Desperate "Mamamamama" when he wants something. Anything, whether it's me, or not.
Sleeping:
He actually is kind of predictable in his sleep habits, even if we don't always get him to sleep. He wakes up about 7:00 am. He crawls all over us, until he decides to get off the bed "feet first"(our cue words). He likes a nap about 9:30 in the morning, give or take an hour. He likes one in the afternoon, about 1:30, give or take an hour. And, at almost 7 on the dot, he begins to fuss and make "lay me down in my bed, nowhere else is acceptable" noises. Just because he tells us doesn't mean we always listen. For instance, right now he is happily watching Star Trek with Jude and Elizabeth at 8:30 in the evening. He still told us at 7 that he wanted to sleep, though.
Mobility:
Finally. He's taking several steps in a row, and covering several feet at a time, toddling all the way. I expect that by 12 months, it will be his primary mode of transportation. Right now, he crawls much faster than he could manage a walk.
He likes to smack things. Any thing. His head against ours, boxes, noisy things. He pushes my large exercise ball across the room with his head.
He has found the joy of pulling everything out of a container (draw, box, bag, shelf). Sometimes, he thinks it is good to put things back into something, but not too often.
He loves technology. The "temporary" storage tubs for sorting outgrown clothing have become permanent guards for the home theater system.
He also moves quickly, which can make photographing him a challenge.
