11 months.

First of all, if you tell me that he is less than 30 days away from his first birthday, I will stick my fingers in my ears and hum loudly until you go away.  I don’t want to hear it.

Second of all, Calvin learned this little trick recently:

He’s been taking steps for a while now (actually, these pictures are a few weeks old) but he kind of turned a corner this weekend.  He definitely prefers walking to crawling.  He’s still learning, but he’s getting pretty proficient.  Stinker.

I was talking to another mom recently about our babies (she has one close to Calvin’s age).  We were talking about how quickly the year has gone, and yet how – at the same time – it’s hard to ever remember my life without Calvin in it.  He is an integral part of our family.  And the more his personality grows and develops, the more perfectly he fits into our family dynamic.

Speaking of Calvin’s personality, he’s kind of a tease.  (What a surprise!)  He likes to do things that he knows will get a reaction from me.  Like standing in his high chair, or in the bath tub, or climbing up the stairs.  He knows what to do to get attention (even if it’s a scolding  “No no!”) and he’ll laugh as soon as he gets the reaction he knew was coming.   

When he gets tired and cranky, he’s started putting his forehead down on the floor and crawling as fast as he can.  He’s lucky he still has hair.

And speaking of hair, he still loves to pull it.  His, Jacey’s, Londyn’s, mine . . . anybody within arms reach.  He has also discovered his ears.  He tries to pull them off.  It’s pretty funny to sit and watch him pull on his ear and then look at his hand, as if he’s expecting the ear to be there in his hand after he tugs on it.  He can’t figure out why they don’t come off. 

He thinks it’s hilarious if I try to nibble his toes.  If he’s cranky in the shopping cart I know I can get a grin if I nibble his toes. 

I catch him dancing in his car seat all the time.  He is particularly fond of BNL’s “Snacktime” album.  He still dances by pumping both arms up and down as fast as he can and bouncing. 

He eats mostly big-kid food now, and has a mostly big-kid appetite.  I’m eager to see how he handles transitioning to whole milk.  He still prefers his milk warm, although I’ve been trying to wean him to cooler temperatures.  But if I try to give him a bottle straight from the fridge he throws a fit.

His schedule is all sorts of messed up thanks to summer and the lack of routine that has come with it.  He goes to bed late and sleeps in late, just like the rest of us.  (Except Will.  Sucker.)   

He startles at loud noises.  If I shout downstairs to the girls, it usually scares him something fierce.  Needless to say, he isn’t fond of the vacuum either.  Or fireworks.

He used to like me best.  Will is working his way into the #1 spot.  I think I still have it for now, but my lead is shrinking.  Grandma is also moving up the leaderboard.

He fell down the back steps earlier this week, and is sporting his first shiner.  It’s not his best look. 

There is one face in particular that is very Calvin, and has been for a while now.  He sticks out his lips, like he’s trying to hold a pencil between his nose and upper lip.  Then he breathes in an out through his clenched teeth really fast.  It’s his expression that can mean anything.  He does it when he’s happy, sad, fussy, excited, silly, angry, or any combination thereof.  This picture doesn’t really do it justice – I just caught the tail end of it.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I like having a boy.  I’ll be honest – up until now it hasn’t been much different.  Other than getting squirted when I changed his diaper.  But as we’re approaching the year mark, I’m starting to see the differences.  He is high energy.  He is squirmy and wiggly and constantly on the move.  He spent most of the evening bouncing a ball and chasing it all over the kitchen, back and forth, over and over.  He loves his truck and pushes it all over the house. 

And I love it.  I love that I have a boy.  I especially love that I have a boy who loves his mama.

Just don’t say “birthday boy” to me yet.