Our much needed stay-cation

Our pediatrician told me once that traveling is never a vacation when you have a baby, it's a trip. And boy is he right. Initially we though it would be nice to take a family vacation somewhere come fall, but it turns out traveling with a baby is a lot of work, so we decided that a "stay-cation" would be more relaxing.

And it was.

Ryan took a MUCH NEEDED week off of work last week and we had so much fun just piddling in the house and around Cincinnati. And in between all of our fun outings, we were even able to accomplish a few so many tasks around here. Things were just "getting done" for once, and we were finally able to check some to-do's off a list that had been growing since we moved in a year ago.

Here are a few photos from our trip to Shaw Farms (a cute pumpkin patch nearby)  and Oxford (our old stomping grounds at Miami).....

11th month

Your 11 months old...what?! Ok, updates...

If someone asked me when you "started walking" I would say when you were 9 months.  Afterall, it's when you stood up and took those first little steps before toppling over. You certainly weren't getting anywhere on those two feet, but you were walking. This past month though, you've really gotten the hang of the whole walking thing. In fact, you rarely crawl anymore and your preferred method of moving from point A to point B is by foot, looking a lot like a little Frankenstein.

You jibber jabber lots. Mamma and Dadda are favorites, but we are pretty sure we've also heard duck and dog. You also understand ball, baby and no.

About a week ago you were terribly fussy. Nighttime rolled around and you were screaming. We figured something was up and sure enough the next morning we noticed ANOTHER tooth poking through on the bottom, giving you a total of 7 teeth and it looks like another bottom one is on the way.

You shake your head no at us a lot lately. While at first we though you had actually figured out how to express "no," now we are pretty sure it's just your way of showing overall discontentment.

Now that summer is gone and colder days are upon us, I've been slipping on your socks to keep your feet warm. You usually rip them off so I'm not sure what to do about your little feet when it's super chilly outside and you refuse to keep anything on. Luckily, you seem to like your shoes and we even bought your first pair of walkers from Stride Rite this month.

The sound of music causes you to jam. You sway and bob up and down to the beat.

You enjoy books, but not for reading. You walk over to your book shelf and furiously pull the books off and fling them on the floor. You'd pull every last one off if I didn't stop you. As a result of your aggressive book tossing, you also received your first ouchie (see my friend Holly's pic below) when you slipped and smacked your face on the shelf leaving you with a bruised cheek for a few days.

You do things to see a reaction now. Throw books. Toss a ball. Put toys into boxes. Open and close doors. It's so fun to watch you explore and figure things out.

And finally, we think you might give kisses? You'll get real close to our faces and place your lips on us. So sweet, whatever it is!

Next month I'll be writing your 1 year update! Eeek! Can't believe it.