All about Leo as he rolls up on eleven! months! holy! cow!

This post is sort of a "Mom's journal" of things I want to remember.

Leo:
-walks independently
-walks independently while carrying toys, even large toys
-falls gently
-catches himself
-walks fast
-turns fast
-feeds himself pretty much everything
-Opens and shuts anything that will open or shut
-Plays hide-and-seek

Leo loves:
-His parents
-turkey
-cheese
-pears
-apples (especially tasting/sucking on a peeled apple [relatively safe because he only has one tooth {and one more just coming in}])
-toast bites smeared with pureed fruit
-dancing
-Diana Damrau singing "O Zittre Nicht"
-Having his teeth brushed
-Being naked
-People. Everywhere. Everyone. Flirting.
-Knocking over towers that we build, and teasing us in the process, holding his hand up near the tower for several seconds and smiling before he taps it.
-Nursing, except for the last feed of the night - he will only take that by bottle (but will nurse for a few minutes after draining his bottle). This began happening because when he was really young he would nurse to sleep after just a few minutes, so I would "top him off" with a few ounces of pumped milk. After a while he only wanted the bottle. It hasn't seemed to make him want to nurse the rest of the time any less.

Leo does not love:
-diaper changes
-being dressed/undressed/messed with in this way in general
-Having his face wiped
-Being lotioned/PJ'ed after bath and before bed

Leo will, on demand:
-Dance
-Clap
-Do "So Big"
-Roll 'em up (as in Patty-cake)
-and Throw 'em in the oven
-Tickle Grandpa's mustache (or a picture of Grandpa's mustache)
-Gesture to something he wants (he's just starting to do this)

Leo communicates by:
-Signing for nursing (which also sometimes means "Mama" and "food" or "comfort" in general
-Shoving his face into my chest (loud and clear, yo)
-Waving "hello" or "goodbye"

Leo says:
-Ha (hi)
-Dehdeh (Mama)
-Dadadadada (Papa)
-Other forms of Dadadadadada while looking at or gesturing to a grandparent
-Also mimics a lot of things we say (the pitches/tones)
-Bbbbbbb (lip trills)
[I never really noticed a "first word," although my dad said he heard Leo say "Papa" to Matt. These are more like little sounds he makes that we just realized are specific in nature. Thus, um, words, I guess.]

Leo recognizes the words:
-Nurse
-Milk
-Hungry
-Mama
-Papa (matt)
-Grandma
-Grandpa
-Mustache (see "Grandpa")
-Nana
-Granddaddy
-Puppy

Leo has traveled to Minnesota (two flight legs) four times (twice just this month) and Texas three times. He is very good on a plane. I think he is so used to it that he just isn't fazed, even though he has just become so mobile.

Leo loves to be outside.

Leo loves dogs and most animals in general.

He sleeps through the night (12 hours) about 70% of the time. The rest of the time, he wakes around 1am and needs to be rocked, patted, or hugged back to sleep.

Leo is very emotional and sensitive. We usually know what is on his mind. He communicates his feelings, wants, desires loudly and with full emotion. He is very, very funny, very goofy, very fun. I really, really like him.

Goodbye

She was less than two weeks from her 85th birthday.

She was a beauty queen, an immaculate hostess, and a mother who raised a family of six without ever learning how to drive a car. She was a businesswoman. I grew up a half mile from her and she never missed a single choir concert, dance recital or spelling bee.

She had thousands of friends. She was hilarious and incredibly smart. She was a devout Catholic. She taught me how to play cards and gloated when she beat me. She used to rub my back to warm me up after I swam in the cold lake in the summer in MN.

She loved music and baking and her family. She hid chocolates and didn't share them with anybody. She made the best cinnamon rolls and the BEST BEST chocolate chip cookies. She sent me home baked goods all through college.

She married her one great true love.

I am proud that I made her a great-grandmother.



Rest peacefully, my beloved Nana. How I will miss you.

My baby grows.

I love this boy with my whole heart. My whole entire heart.

Regarding my post below. Life will never be the same. But I wouldn't want it to be.

(The end of this video documents his obsession with my folks' kitchen light fixture.)