11 Months

Highlights:
-First Christmas
-First New Year
-walking becomes preferred method of transportation
-cut his first tooth!
-loves things that shake and rattle
-started to LOVE reading books
-throws his head back and scrunches his face dramatically when he fake cries
-is most happy when surrounded by people
-almost weaned from nursing
-can do "So big!"

Ezra's first Christmas was so much fun. Holidays are BETTER with children--no ifs, ands, or buts about it! When Ezra woke up in the morning, we directed him towards his stocking. He sat in front of it happily as I pointed to the different textured balls Santa had filled his stocking with. He played with each one for a handful of seconds before moving onto the next. Grandma and Grandpa Brown were here with us. Ezra was so happy to play in the wrapping paper, boxes, and with all his new toys. He sat and read new books with us as they were opened and played with each new toy (three different sets of balls!)

He started teething the week of Christmas. He wanted to be rocked to sleep every nap/bedtime. I was okay with it...for the most part ;) 

Having in-laws in town for several days (Melody and Braxton were also here :) ) meant Ezra got a lot of encouragement in the walking department. On Christmas day, he decided he should just start walking all around. It is so cute to see his tiny body titter-tottering about.

One of the biggest changes this month was Ezra's attention span when it came to reading. This morning (1/4) we sat and read books for over 20 minutes. That's a long time for a not even one year old to sit still and not do anything but turn pages. He does love to turn pages, though! So far, snacks and whispering books quietly in his ear are the only things that keep him still in church.

Several times a day, he totters over to the books shelf and pulls a book (or 12) off the shelf. If I am close by, he will carry it to me and drop it by my feet. He has not yet figured out how to just hand people things, yet. He crawls into my lap, on the ground, and we read a story. Then he stands up, pulls another off the shelf, drops it in front of me, and crawls back into my lap. We start the process over again...and again...and again. Each morning we spend about a half hour reading all the books board books we own (which is only about 15 books).  I often wonder how long he would sit and read if we had endless numbers of books. Luckily we have his whole life to add to our collection!

Genius moment: Ezra is left hand dominant in most things. When reading a book, he turns the pages with his left hand. BUT, when looking at a book backwards, he turns the pages with his right hand. He will switch from left to right with the same page depending on whether he wants to turn it forward or backward. I feel like that means something!!! (*crazy first time parent who thinks their child is a genius smile*) 

This month was a little harder for me in the parenting department while Ezra has been teething. Before this month, any ailment he had I could easily alleviate with a snuggle, hug, snack, etc. It made me feel like Ezra and I just GOT each other. I always knew what he needed. But, when I couldn't help him this month, it left me feeling distant from my sweet baby--like he didn't like me anymore! So, I officially declare teething to be THE WORST. It made my heart so happy when he woke up one morning and was magically back to his normal. It really felt like magic. And by magic, I mean, it felt like a huge blessing from Heavenly Father to this mama who needed some lovin from her tiniest babe.  

It snowed a lot this month. We stayed inside a lot this month. When it finally got warm enough (i.e. it was above 20 degrees haha) we ventured outside and Ezra was so excited to walk around. The first time the snow melted, he sat in a pile of wet soggy leaves and played like he had found treasure. Yesterday while we were waiting for Kyle, I pulled him out of his carseat and let him walk around the sidewalk. He would walk to one side and then stop at the snow and just stare at it for 30-45 seconds, then walk to the other side of the side walk and repeat the snow staring. A great example of his being observant and taking in his surroundings before he makes a choice of what to do. He walked back and forth staring at the snow, for about 10 minutes, before he decided to reach down and touch it. 

I heard Kyle in the bathroom saying "Hi baby!"over and over again. I walked in to find this scene: Ezra finding Kyle in the reflection of the shower....thing? (what is this?)