Happy 11 months to me!

I'm 11 months old today! Only one month until I'm a whole year old. It's hard to believe that my first birthday is coming up so quickly!

Mama says that my first birthday is SO special, the entire country will be celebrating with me! She and Daddy have already called everyone to tell them the theme: red, white and blue, lots of stars and stripes and flags, elephants and donkeys...it's going to be so great. That day, everyone will go to these places called "polling places" to cast votes on who loves me the most and who thinks I'm the greatest. But Mama says that she and Daddy will win both races because they will stuff the ballot boxes.

Anyway, that's next month. Right now it's all about me in my 11-month-old glory! I have learned so much in the last month, and I'm even more fun to be around, if you can imagine that.

• I crawl really well, although sometimes I still get ahead of myself and then army crawl for a bit.
• I like to pull myself up to my knees or to my feet, where I wobble around and bang on whatever I'm holding myself up on. This makes Mama nervous, but so far I've been pretty good at sitting back down without hurting myself.
• I still just have the two teeth, but they are nice and sharp and I sometimes use them to try to bite Mama's nose or chin.
• I like to pull Daddy's chest hair out whenever I can get my hands on it.
• I finally dropped one of my naps and lengthened my night sleep. I sleep from 6:30 PM - 7 AM and take 1-2 hour naps at 9AM and 1PM.
• I eat more than my body weight in solid foods. I like to eat pretty much anything, and Mama usually makes me some pasta, barley or rice with steamed veggies and chicken or beans. I get fruit (I love peaches, bananas, blueberries and pears) for dessert, and I eat oatmeal for breakfast every day.
• I finally kicked my milk-drug habit about a week ago, and then Mama and I had a few struggles as she tried to figure out how to keep me hydrated and healthy as I refused to drink any fluids. After a couple days, I finally gave in and went back to drinking water out of a cup during meals. Then I agreed to drink 3 bottles of formula per day, since the Dude said I'm not allowed to go straight to whole milk yet. I hated the taste and smell of formula at first, but now I'm getting used to it. I still won't drink it out of a bottle, but I'll drink it from a trainer cup. Mama was a little sad that she has to give me formula after nursing me exclusively for 11 months, but I wanted to try it out while I could.
  
• I've moved past "ba-ba-ba" and now I say lots of "m's" and "g's". I say "mum-mum-mum" when Mama is holding me or if I want something, and I like to say "guh-guh" and "EH!", which is how I call Daddy.
  
• I clap all the time, and I wave both hands back at you if you wave at me. I haven't figured out that I can wave just one hand yet, and I kind of put my whole arm into it, but I get the idea across.
• I'm still enamored with balls. At Gymboree, I'm surrounded with a room full of fancy climbing, sliding and rotating play equipment and toys, but I'm only interested in the balls. Or with the picture of Gymbo the clown, which is imprinted on one of the floor mats. I crawl right over to him and try to eat his face.
• I love to play in my playroom, and my primary purpose there is to take everything off the shelves and throw it around the room. The first thing I do is get my blocks and make sure they are properly strewn across the floor. Then I pull out my stuffed animals, my favorite toy Sophie, and my Tonka trucks and leave them scattered around. Lastly, I head to the bookshelf and pull off every single book, leaving them in a heap under the window. Mama and Daddy insist on putting things away and I'm not really a big fan of that.
• When I crawl around the house, my favorite play things are Mama and Daddy's shoes (I like to try to chew on the bottoms), Cowboy's water dish, and any books I can reach. I always make sure to pull out Mama's "Filipino Lovers' Cookbook". I'm trying to hint to Mama that I'd like her to make me some adobo, but she hasn't caught on yet.
• I'm starting to learn what I'm not supposed to do, but that doesn't necessarily stop me. Mama doesn't like it when I sharpen my teeth on the dining room table, so I lean down, open my mouth and line up my teeth, and wait for Mama to notice me. I do that sometimes when I'm about to put something yucky in my mouth too (like Cowboy's leash). I don't really want to put it in my mouth, but I like the reaction I get from Mama.
• I've grown out of all of my baby clothes and now wear 12-18 month "big boy" clothes. I've also grown out of all of my shoes.
  
• When I'm hungry, I smack my lips really loudly. I'm also learning how to click my tongue. It makes me laugh when Mama does it, so I'm figuring out how to do it myself.
• I like to talk or sing to myself. I do it in the car seat, when I'm playing, when I'm going to sleep or just waking up, or when I'm hanging out in my high chair. Mama and Daddy like to listen to me, so I must be quite talented.
• I get a little shy with new people, so I bury my head in my Mama's neck. But I still smile.
• I really like to bang things against each other, the floor, or the table so that they make really loud noises.
• Today Mama asked me where her nose was, so I tapped it for her. Silly Mama, can't find her own nose!
  

Those are just a few of the things I've been doing the past month. I'm a very busy boy and I discover new things to do every day. I don't like to sit still, so I won't let anyone hold me for too long. I've got places to explore and things to bang together!