Month 11 and Visitors

Anthon turns 13 months today! So, naturally...I should take this time to tell you about his 11th month of life and turning (dun dun DUNNNN) ONE! Month 11 was full of fun, as Anthon started standing even more on his own and even (gasp!) took a few steps on his own. He started pointing at things, has added 'duck' and 'dad' to his vocabulary, and is just the funnest baby.

Anytime he is given something awesome (which is really, anything--a plastic lid for his bottle he was eyeing, a toilet paper roll, the candle from the kitchen table--you name it), he pauses before enjoying it to look up at you with the biggest grin on his face as if to say ,'Oh my gosh, THANK YOU. This is the best thing I've ever received and you are the most wonderful person for being here with me for this experience!' Handing him things has got to be the most gratifying thing in the world. haha. There was one time I handed him something and he went straight to playing with it instead of giving me that gratitude-filled smile. I had a glimpse of what it would be like to have a less-social, less-people-focused baby...and am SO glad I have Anthon!!!

You'll have to excuse the blur in so many of these pictures. As I've said before, homeboy doesn't stay still for long. We take what we can get. That, and...I have the shakes, so my pictures turn out blurry half the time anyways. 

Anthon loves crawling all over us whenever we're on the ground. Over our knees, thighs, backs, really, whatever. He just wants to be involved and part of the party.

 Oh, and the make-up play continues. This picture is blurry, but oh so 'real-life'. Check out that belly. Got to love a full baby :)

 

Another new favorite thing to do is have Dad either push or pull him around in boxes. Shoe boxes, shopping boxes, anything. Lucky for Matthew's back, that engineering husband of mine rigged a rope so that he can now drag him. Hours of entertainment (for mom watching, and for the boys :) 

 

 

Again, anything he can get into. Oh, and bottles--bottles were a favorite thing this month. 

 

 Forts with dad continue to be one of these two's favorite ways to play.

 

Clearly...we don't keep Anthon still for long, even for diaper changes. I typically manage to get at least his next diaper on before he's off and onto new things, but...then again, as you can see, sometimes not.  

 Walks and just being outside in general continue to be one of Anthon's favorite things.

  

 

Some Fall/Halloween fun at our church activity and then the pumpkin patch :)

 

Anthon's item of the month, if I had to choose one? 

BALLOONS. 

He LOVESSS them. It started at this ward activity, where there were some left-over balloons from another activity. He played with them forever and was loving them. That love then carried on--there's one store I shop at that has balloons all along every checkout counter. hehe, needless to say, his eyes are locked on them as I walk past them with him in the cart. 

Anddd... the pumpkin patch. Take a second to take in those colors again. 

What theeeeeeeeee! Where do we even live??!

Anthon loves the dollar store and so do I. It sometimes ends in impulsive buys...but, on the bright side...they're only $1, right?! ;) haha,

 

Anthon especially loves his 'peace pipe' (as Matthew coined when he took the picture). haha, we'll stick with calling it his golf club. He loves it and looks for the golf ball specifically to hit around with it.  

Anthon still digs bathtime...

His only frustration is all the bottles on the shower rack we typically refuse to let him play with.

Typically...

Also...we really do give him bath toys.... haha. I'm not sure why he doesn't have any in this picture..

 Another new thing this month was apples. I didn't even know he could really eat them! I left him with an apple on the floor, not thinking he could really eat it, while I was cooking, only to turn around and find half the apple chomped away!

 

Say whhhhhaaaaa?? haha, I might have been a little more paranoid about him choking had I known...

but, he survived, so I guess we're okay :) 

 Lyn and Darla (Matthew's parents) visited! They stayed with us for seven days and we loved it.

 Honestly, I said it on Instagram, I'll say it again...anyone who does my dishes and talks about how cute our baby is as much as we do can stay as LONG as they want. They were a joy to have around and were just oh so cute to watch interact with Anthon.

  Watching Winnie The Pooh (for the first time) with grandpa...

 And, a free trip to the Children's Museum, compliments of the library...

 Also....Anthon has a thing for toilet paper... 

lol! In case there is any confusion here...he took a bite out of the toilet paper roll...

 Still loves looking at those animals outside..

 The many faces of my boy. These crack me up:

 And....here's where he starts to look sooo olddddd.

 Again, with those apples :)

 

 Church, as you can see, often consists of more and more roaming the hallways. His picture on the right just kills me.

Month 11 was so fun and Anthon just keeps getting busier and busier. I was going to put some birthday pictures up here, but I think I'll save them for my next post...

Thanks for reading!