Trust me, Nugget, I can’t believe it either.  I can’t believe that in just one month (from yesterday!) I will have another one year old.  The past eleven months have been the sweetest of my life.  Falling in love with this precious boy, watching him with his sister, and getting to know everything about his sweet little spirit – he is such a joy and such a gift and he has made us feel so complete.  These past eleven months have also been the fastest of my life.  I know I say it every month, but I really don’t know where the time is going.  I feel like he just got here, and yet here I am making calls to book his first birthday party.  How is that possible?

This month, more than any other month, Nugget has really been into everything.  He’s officially crawling now (sniff – my baby!) and he is using his newfound mobility and skill to explore every inch of the house.  With a particular emphasis on anything he should not have, of course.  If it lights up, he pokes it.  If it seems electronic, he bites it.  If it’s battery powered or seems likely to make a big noise, he throws it across the room.  This is new territory for me, because aside from floor vents, Peanut wasn’t interested in getting into much of anything at this age.  She was happy to sit with a book and a stuffed bear, looking like the world’s most perfect princess.  Not so Nugget; the man is on the move.

If you asked Nugget what the biggest milestone of the month would be, I’m pretty sure this would be his answer – riding in the cart at Target and Wegmans!  Until recently I have either worn him in the Ergo or plopped him, still in the car seat, into the basket of the cart.  But lately the Ergo has seemed like too much effort for a quick run into the stores, and the car seat just plain takes up all the room.  So I tried Nugget in the seat and he loves it.  He shouts and giggles and claps and checks out all of the faces and colors around him, and he has an absolute ball.  He also likes to turn around and try to climb over the back rest, and because he’s so small, he can usually wiggle himself into all kinds of precarious shopping cart positions.  It has certainly made Target runs an adventure.

Other milestones this month have been less fun – Nugget’s first house move, for one.  See all those boxes behind him?  That’s his new reality.  Not that he minds.  Boxes are just more things to climb on and explore!  It’s been tougher on Mom than on baby – as much as I knew the house wasn’t a good fit for us, and that we needed the change, bidding goodbye to his nursery was tough.  I poured so much love into that room, and I miss it – the happy green walls, the friendly woodland creatures gathered along the wall above the crib, the bright sunlight flooding the picture window, and the cozy Berber carpet…  I know the move was the right thing to do, and that eventually we’ll find our perfect situation and it’ll involve an even better room for him.  But that one was his first – it was the room where I rocked him and fed him as a newborn, where he laughed at his sister spinning around, where I hung pictures and decals that I had carefully chosen even before I met him.

Sniff.  It’s not weird that I don’t miss the house, but I do miss his room… is it?

Another challenging milestone – Mom’s first night away from baby.  And a week later, second.  I had some travel this month that took me away for two nights (separated by about six days) and while I knew that he was in good hands with Dad, I was a mess.  I missed the little guy so much.  When Peanut was a baby I was working a job that required a lot of business travel, and I got used to it.  But this was the first time in eleven months that I have spent a night away from Nugget, and we both needed some extra cuddles when I got home.

Nugget at 11 Months:

Weight: 18 lbs, 4 oz (this is an approximation, guys – there was a LOT of playing when I weighed him this month).

Height:  28.5 inches – does that sound right? What was he last month? I can’t remember and he never really cooperates.

Clothing Size: I think I have to bite the bullet and admit to myself that he’s in twelve months now.  His nine month clothes are looking short in the torso, the legs, the sleeves – all around.

Sleep: This has been a rough one, this month.  Nugget has never been a great sleeper (the proof is in the archives) and between teething, the ten month sleep regression, and a new environment, he’s become a complete maniac at night.  He goes to bed relatively easily most nights (touch wood) but he’s killing me with wakeups.  A few nights before his birthday, he woke up four times.  I don’t remember him waking up that much even in the newborn days.  Part of the problem is that he is able to get himself into all kinds of situations – involuntary tummy time, sitting up in the crib, kneeling on his knees and holding the bars, or leg through the slats – but he doesn’t yet have the skills to get himself out of them, so he has to call for a rescue.  Every ninety minutes.  You’re killin’ me, Smalls!

Likes: The stairs, anything he’s not supposed to play with, anything dangerous.  Rubber duckies.  Perfectly smooth purees.  (No chunks, please, Mom.  And who do you think you’re going to feed those quartered blueberries to?  Maybe Peanut will eat them.)  And speaking of Peanut – Peanut!  Especially at bedtime, first thing in the morning, and all day long – she’s the coolest!

Dislikes: When Mommy leaves the room, anytime, but especially at bedtime.  He has a particular cry for disappearing Mommy, and it can only be described as indignant.  He’s always been very attached to me, which I love.  But sometimes I have to put him down (for instance, it’s hard to get dressed while holding him… I’ve done it, but it’s a challenge).  And he lets me know that he is not happy about that.    Sometimes Mommy’s arms are the only place you can be, amirite?  Oh, another thing we learned this month that Nugget dislikes: having Valentine’s Day photos taken.  Oof.

Favorite Toys: When it comes to actual toys, this hasn’t changed.  He still loves cars and trucks and things that go, and anything hard – like Mega Bloks (basically, Legos for babies).  Still has no use for soft friends or cuddly toys.  But even more than his beloved fleet, Nugget’s favorite toys this month were… not-toys.  Dad’s xBox controller!  The remote!  An envelope!  Newsprint!  Empty diaper wipe containers!  The cable box!  If he wasn’t supposed to play with it, he was ALL ABOUT IT.  And that extends to anything that belongs to his sister.  Nugget especially loves to grab and shake her fairy tale puzzle box, which – of course – fills her with rage.  But when she takes her nap… par-TAY.

Milestones: See above – so many!  Crawling, and beginning to pull up.  More teeth – he has four now.  And his first house move.  It was quite a month.

Quirks: I’ve said this in the past, but it bears repeating.  Nugget is a kisser.  He has started to restrain himself a little bit, but sometimes the love and enthusiasm know no bounds.  Until recently he has reserved all his toothy, slobbery love for me (I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit gleeful at being the favorite – Peanut is such a Daddy’s girl that I was feeling a bit the third wheel, until Nugget came along loving only ME) but lately he has become more of an equal opportunity affection giver.  Steve walked in on Nugget having a moment with the student teacher’s face in his classroom (haha! poor girl) and the next day I asked her about it when I picked him up.  “Oh, yes,” she told me, “He kisses everyone!  Me, the other teachers, the kids!  If any of his friends get too close he grabs them and kisses them!  We joke that he’s little, but he’s dangerous!”  Who would have thought that I would have a baby Casanova on my hands?  Don Juan of the Daycare.

Happy eleven months, my sweet boy!  I can’t believe you’re almost one.  You’ve made life so sweet and so joyful.  Thanks for choosing us.