Eleven months.

We are getting awfully close to one year! I can't believe it. I know everyone always says time moves so quickly, but it seems to be speeding by. It's both satisfying and alarming and both exciting and pretty sad. There are always a few rough moments in each day but most days I think to myself, this is my most favorite age Javi has ever been!  

We started off the month with a trip to Puerto Rico -- plane rides, lots of swimming and visits with family. It was a lot of fun and Javi was a bit scared of the ocean the first day but started to warm up to it by the second day. He tried pizza for the first time and ice cream for the first time!

He's a pro at imitation now and anything we do -- he tries to do! He waves bye (not always on command...) and says "da", "ba" and "la". He's obsessed with opening and closing cabinets and doors and his little fingers are always inches away from getting pinched! He also lays down and closes his eyes when we say "Javi, are you sleepy?" He's our little furniture re-arranger and loves to move anything and everything. He's incredibly strong and thinks he's totally cool as he pushes something across the room. 

He's still loving books and we went to library story time many times in the past month. When we look at books together he is constantly closing the book to look at the cover... and then he looks back to the page we're on. Always comparing! He is also loving music and the music class we started this month was such a hit I signed him up for 9 more classes. He's working on keep his own instruments and NOT taking everyone else's things. He tends to want what anyone else has... always. :(

We're trying to get better at feeding him more regular food (like we eat) but I'm still so afraid of choking (or gagging) and we just aren't there yet. But he eats the fruit and veggie pouches and puffs and munchies and basically everything they sell in the Gerber aisle. We're still working our way up to milk... but mostly he loves his formula. He's having a really hard time being alone and hates being put down especially when you walk away after putting him down. His cries break my heart! He puts his arms out/up and reaches for you with tears streaming down his face. It's just impossible not to scoop him up!

He's an excellent crawler... but he is LOUD when he crawls. He thumps and thumps and races around. It's hysterical. He's good at standing but he's still not totally steady on his feet. He LOVES stairs and he crawls up them like nobody's business. He still doesn't understand stairs and thinks it's appropriate to be in the middle of a flight of stairs and just sit back... so we're always close by. :) He loves going for walks, even in the heat and he loves his new tricycle!

Unfortunately, we couldn't take our monthly photo because someone just doesn't stay still anymore! He is ALWAYS moving and on the go. He's not a great napper but he's still sleeping through the night! He's just such a big guy already! We've started planning his birthday party next month and can't wait!