11-month update

Joe is probably better equipped to write this post than I am, because (as I'm sure you have all picked up by now) he has spent a lot more time with Nicholas this month than I have. But as we have now passed off the primary parent baton and Joe is diligently working, I'll give it a go.

• Nicholas can now take 5 or 6 unassisted steps, but he prefers to cruise or walk holding an adult's hand. But man has he become a speedy and skilled cruiser. I am amazed at the obstacles he figures out how to get around without letting go of furniture.
• He has finally discovered his knees, and so can pull up to standing, as well as go from standing to sitting. Sometimes he holds onto his chair and just goes back and forth between sitting and standing for fun. It looks like he is doing squats. The addition of this skill has made him very mobile because if you leave him in the middle of the room sitting, he can go to his tummy, crawl to the couch, pull to standing, and walk into the dining room by holding onto furniture. The first time he made it in I did a double take.
• Nicholas is obsessed with anything that rolls. Balls, cars, trucks, etc. He loves pushing trucks around, "throwing" a ball back to you, and (his favorite of all) kicking a ball around the house while chasing after it (holding an adult's hands, of course). Our apartment is small and currently extremely cluttered, so "soccer" often requires crawling, as the ball ends up under things.
• Mealtimes are the only real problem times at our house. Nicholas is great about bedtime, diaper changes, going to daycare, etc (all with a big "knock on wood"), but meals are a battle. He doesn't want to eat anything other than jarred food, french fries, and graham crackers. He likes a host of other foods and happily eats 2 or 3 bites, but after 3 bites, he is done and insists that it is time for a jar. He also has two habits at dinner that he knows are forbidden but likes to test us on--throwing food off his tray and banging his tray. We can tell he knows he isn't supposed to do it, because he looks at us while contemplating and watches us carefully the whole time, checking our reaction.
• He still loves looking at pictures. And he has started saying "mamamamamama" when he sits and looks through his album. I am in quite a few of the pictures, so is he actually making the connection? Or does he think that is the word for picture? Who knows?
• His coordination is pretty impressive. He feeds himself pretty well with a fork (when we've put the food on it), can put objects in his mailbox or in his toy cups, sometimes plays a note at a time on his little piano, and a couple times even balanced a little ball on top of the toys it came with.

I'm sure that isn't a complete update, but it is the highlights. Also this month he had his first ear infection (and accompanying first fever) and got his seventh tooth.