Lynx's 11th Month - first steps, going down stairs, communicating with everyone

Lynx had a major month!  Not only did he learn to walk, he is also walking outside on the uneven grass, he can also go down the stairs by himself and wave, clap, blow raspberries, and say "ah, ah, ah!" in response to our "ah ah ah!" exclamations.

He loves watching Nova, and is often out of sorts when she's gone.

They've started playing together.  The games mostly consist of one climbing on the other, and they both giggle and giggle.  Relatedly, Nova will tell me if Lynx is doing something he's not supposed to do, and Lynx will follow Nova around, stealing her toys all day if he could.

WEANING: On the growing up front, I've started reading to him after I nurse him but before he goes to sleep. I've been feeding him to sleep up until now, which I did not do with Nova and regret. (It's SO MUCH easier to get them to sleep if you feed them to sleep!)  By reading to him after I feed him, I'm hoping that the book will eventually replace the feeding, and I can simply read to him instead of feed & read.  Surprisingly, last night (May 9), I was feeding him to bed when he stopped, pointed at the bookshelf and said, "eeeh! eeeh!"  I said, "We will read after you eat" and tried to feed him again.  After just another minute of feeding him, he was back at it. "Eeeh!  eeeh!" while pointing at the books on the bookshelf.  So, I stopped feeding him, read to him, and put him to bed, happy as a clam.  Maybe he'll wean himself?!

He's turning into such a little man, I totally love it.  I miss all the snuggles of his early babyhood, too, but I much prefer to see him exploring his ever expanding world as an almost toddler.

Nova had a big month, too.  She is getting interested in learning how to read.  She has always loved having us read to her, but lately I've been trying to point out the words we see.  Like, the STOP sign, text messages on my phone, words at the playground. As a result, as of yesterday, she's started saying, "What does that say?" when we see letters.  And, she'll finish the sentence of a book we've read a hundred times and exclaim, "I can read!" And I say, "Yes you can!  So good!" :)  She smiles so proudly.

Nova and I have been looking at Jenn's blog a lot lately, due to Nova's continued obsession with Kaia.  More and more, Nova asks me to be Nova, while she is Kaia.  She'll say, "You my cousin" and I'll reply, "Yes, and I'm taller than you," and she'll say, "My daddy is Uncle Ford," and we go on and on in our imaginary world.

Here's a video of Nova transitioning into her Kaia role.

While Lynx naps, I've been engaging Nova in more "wild abandon" types of activities, where I give her something to play with, and tell her to enjoy.  Here, she's painting.  Notice her hands?  There's some evidence of wild abandon if ever I've seen any!

I let her clean up after painting, which mostly turned into squirting paint into the sink.  Sigh.

She also made some mud pies, which she called mince pies.  Before and...

After!  Cheese!

And, soccer began!  "Soccer practice" consists of the parents following their 3 year olds around while they do a variety of non-sanctioned activities with their soccer ball.  It's pretty cute and totally unproductive. 

Hiiiii-ya!

11 months!

I'm standing!!

Lynx STATS:
April 10: started to guide the walker in the right direction.  Also said ma, pa, da, teh, hi-die.  Hi-die is his favorite combination of words.
April 20: began clapping and LOVES to get us clapping in response.
April 27: stood up for 20 seconds (or more?) for the first time.
April 28: Walked three paces by himself for the first time.
May 3: Loves putting toys into containers and dumping them out again
May 5: waved to a neighbor while on a walk.  Lynn and I had no idea he knew how to wave until then.
May 6: If I say, "ah, ah, ah" he will repeat every time. He really wants to have his voice heard.
He also started climbing down the stairs - we only let him practice on the sets of 2-3 stairs we have throughout our split-level house, NOT the staircase leading to the second floor.
And, sine I've started reading to him, he'll now find books on the floor and bring his favorites to Lynn or I, then climb into our laps to read.  It's awesome.

Nova STATS:
April 15: I asked, "Nova, what letter does your name start with?" Nova said, "Birthday!"
May 4: Instead of taking on the role of her imaginary characters herself, I've noticed her playing with figurines more and more.
May 8: She's started to request time alone by saying, "Leave me alone." I've told her that saying, "I need some alone time" is more polite, so she's saying that instead.  My little introvert is expressing her needs more and more.