11 months

it's been eleven months since daxton was born.

it's been eleven months since this sweet boy found his way into our lives.

it's been eleven months since our hearts grew exponentially with a love we never knew.

daxton is in total love with his two bottom teeth. he's got a new found obsession for them as of late. he loves to tuck his top lip in behind them, flick them with his fingers, and smile with his toothy grin. this past week he's gotten happier and happier with tooth time. he loves getting his teeth brushed and watching us brush our teeth. i think this guy is just in love with teeth. we suspect his top two teeth are attempting to push their way through the surface. his drool is off the charts and he seems to be chewing on anything he can find to insert into his mouth. we'll see how his little grin continues to change!

daxton is working on his upper body strength. he's pulling himself up on your lap, on chairs, on his toys, and on anything that's just about 1 foot off the ground. he's finally gotten into a firm stance on his arms and knees and rocks happily back and forth. of course he still ends up sliding down into his belly drag, but will has seen him give genuine crawling a go on more than one occasion. he's doing a good job standing up for short periods of time, so long as you put him in that position and give him something to grab a hold of. he showed his great granny covey how he could stand up in his pack and play and she was amazed!

daxton's latest trick is sitting up like a big boy in the shopping carts.  he loves strolling around, grabbing things on the shelves, and checking it all out.  he lasts a lot longer in the store since he can hold his head steady and thoroughly investigate all of the marketing.  i think he'll be a good shopping buddy.

daxton is still a friend of everyone. he's happy with anyone he meets and gets along with everybody. he happily hangs out with baby sitters, friends, family, and nursery room attendants at church and hardly ever cries. this past week at the beach he entertained the entire family and kept them all in hysterics with his laughing and giggling. he's a giant jokester. he loves to toss his head from side to side and watch your reaction when he wiggles back and forth. he knows he's silly and he likes it.

daxton is loving the great outdoors.  this summer was extremely hot and humid, but lately we've been able to get outside more.  recently he and i hung out on a blanket outside in the grass while we watched daddy mow the lawn.  dax got a big kick out of seeing daddy ride around on the john deere.  we cannot wait to take him to the pumpkin patch to let him experience a real tractor and hay ride!  he also loves to go on mini excursions to check the mail with daddy.  he looks all around to take everything in.  it's all very interesting to this little fellow!

daxton went on his first big time vacation this month. we'd gone to the beach for the weekend earlier in the year, but the weather was a little chilly for daxy's liking. this time he got to spend much more time in the pool and on the sand. he really liked splashing in the water and attempting to eat the sand. we tried to keep as much out of his digestive tract as possible.

aside from the sand, daxton is working hard on getting more textures into his diet. he's found a fondness for cooked green beans, fresh peas, o's cereal, and even black beans with rice. we're hoping to introduce even more "regular" foods into his daily meals to attempt to ween him off of the baby food. it used to be hard to get him to swallow anything that was not smooth, but he's definitely making progress here.

daxton started doing something amazing while we were at the beach - he began sleeping so late in the mornings that we have to wake him up! the first couple of times he did it we dismissed it blaming it on too much fun in the sun, but (knock on wood) it's continued into this week. he's going down around 9pm at night and not waking up until we get him just after 9am! not sure how long this sleep streak will continue, but we'll all happily snooze until he decides its over!

it's been eleven months of 2032 diaper changes.

it's been eleven months of 1824 bottles for a total of 67.5 gallons.

it's been eleven months of cuddling, rocking, and loving on our boy.

it's been eleven months of the purest joy you'd ever know.