Eleven Months

It's hard to believe my little guy is a big, strapping eleven month old, but it's true! Let's see . . . he likes to eat. Have I mentioned that? (oh yes, every post I do about him!) It's still so novel to me to have a good eater. He likes to nurse still, too, especially at frequent intervals in the night, but we're working on that. In other Rainer developments, he's pulling up and cruising all the time now and I think is on the cusp of standing alone, at least briefly. He's starting to make word-like sounds, too, and point to things, like he's really trying to name them. Of course his first sounds are da-da, and ah-da--Daddy is a real favorite around here.
He seems pretty boyish to me. He loves to get the little wooden trucks and crawl around with them in one hand. He seems to be making the cars "go"--can an eleven month old really get "how" to play with cars and trucks? It seems unlikely to me, but that's what it looks like he's doing. Also, he loves jokes. He loves it when you blow on your hand, or say "ouch" and pretend to touch something hot, or, lately we sing the Dora the Explorer song interlaced with "ouch" and he cracks up--he has this hearty, husky, baby laugh that just kills me. That pure baby joy that's just so infectious.
One of the things I've done with this baby is scale way back on the worrying. I decided to just. not. check. the What to Expect books anymore. At all. And you know what? It's making me way more relaxed about this baby. I know he's developing normally, and who cares what the rate is? With Dieter I was checking the book and honestly a little concerned about stupid things like, "but he's not making vowel-consonant combinations yet." So silly, but real when you are going through it. The other thing that freaked me out when Dieter was a baby was this article I read in Brain Child about autism. It was an essay written by this woman whose toddler was fine, very smart in fact, reciting his alphabet and numbers early and all that, who suddenly became autistic. It freaked me out, and all the other articles too (like in Time and Newsweek and stuff), about how autism "strikes" babies who seem to be developing normally and about how it's an epidemic now. Dieter is completely fine, social and talks a lot, so I'm no longer freaked out, and with Rainer I'm just so much more relaxed about the whole thing and he's pointing and responds to his name and all that so I know not to worry so much. No doubt that's better for him, for me, and for the whole family. Right now I'm just trying to slow down, enjoy having a baby for the last time, night nursings and all, and be the best mommy I can be for him.