- Joe bringing John to the bedroom door at the crack of dawn, John pointing to me in the bed. "Dat." Not "Mama" or even "Nana". "Dat."
- Mornings of waking up to a laughing baby crawling all over me after nursing in bed.
- John has decided that diaper changes are the worst form of torture and won't stay on his back for anything.
- Labeling the world for the little man who points to everything wanting to know what it is.
- John's new world of choices and opinions at mealtime.
- Gaining confidence in walking, he'll now walk to the middle of the room, stop, and start going again.
- Laying John down in his crib for naptime and having him smile up at me as I tuck him in.
- The way he runs. He loves to be chased.
- He knows how to turn on the stereo. And off. And on.
- He's growing so fast. He's practically out of his 9-month clothes now. Just yesterday I noticed that the top his head is above the back of his high chair. He can pull things off the desk and easily reach anything on the couch.
- He rocks in rocking chairs. And can almost rock his horse too.
- There is something nice about leaving him at Grandma's to play for a couple of hours... and there is something nice about having him drop everything to get to me as soon as I return.
- As soon Joe gets home, John wants to hang out with him and play... making it difficult for him the change his clothes or even take off his coat.
- I love his baby hugs. Usually it's when he wants to nurse, but I'll take what I can get. He wraps his arms around my neck and lays his head on my shoulder.
- His reaction when someone makes the sign for milk.
- The "crinkle face" which these days has him grinning so big that his eyes are pretty much closed.
- Our sweet little baby is evolving into a charmingly defiant toddler. If you try to steer him in a direction he doesn't want to go, he'll go "jelly-legs" and refuse to move.
- One day John wanted to go up the stairs and I didn't want to. So he let go, walked to the steps, and started crawling up on his own. (At which point I discovered, he can crawl up the stairs by himself. Although he prefers to step up if he can.)
- John loves animals. He wanted to touch my parents' dog every time he saw him (well, when he wasn't barking), and discovered he can feed the dog from his high chair. Then when we got home he followed the cat around for at least 15 minutes, squealing and petting him. And Asher puts up with it very well.
- John is starting to recognize all of his grandparents, even though mine live far away.
- He uses his feet a lot. Stepping on things, kicking them out of the way, etc. I think he's going to be a climber.
- Instead of grabbing at my face with his little hands the way he used to while he nursed, now he prefers to kick my chin with his foot. His hands are busy scratching and pinching the skin on my lower rib cage (which now looks like it's got a rash).
- His laugh: when he's on his rocking horse and it starts to go places; when you put things on your head and let them slide off; when you kiss or tickle his neck; and so on.
- He'll bang on the door to let you know he wants to go exploring outside.
- Only one more month until his first birthday. I can hardly believe it.