11 Months

Why does 11 months sound sooooo much different than 10 months? Or maybe it isn't that it sounds different, but rather I feel so much different about it. I've been thinking about this a lot over the past week or so, and here's what I've come up with.

Eleven months ago, our life was lived in hour increments as we struggled to juggle the feeding, changing, and sleeping 'schedule' of an infant. As those early days past, we were lucky if we knew what day of the week it was. Soon we began living our life in weeks telling people that Caleb was 6...7...8 weeks old. Somewhere around three months, I began refering to his age in months. I became very aware of just how quickly a month goes by. Just when I'd get used to telling people that Caleb was 4 months old, he'd be 4.5 months old, and then 5 months, and so on.

It seems like things have just been in fast forward since he was 6 months old, and I'm not sure if this is because my life got so busy at that time, or if it was because of how much he's changed since then. So after all of that, I feel like I just know how truly short a month can be. How in just a blink of an eye, we'll be celebrating Caleb's birthday. In some ways I feel like I have trouble remembering what my life was like 1 year ago when I was huge and pregnant and walking all over campus in 110 degree heat without thinking anything of it. I really don't feel like I can remember what my life was like without Caleb in it.

In other ways, I feel like I blinked and a whole year has gone by. I'm in a completly different place in my life now than I was then both because of Caleb and because of that whole graduating and getting a job thing. One thing I learned for sure over the past year, live life for today. I'm now living by the quote, "Be thankful for this moment. This moment is your life." Time goes by too quickly not to stop and cherish the moment you're in right now. Hard to believe it took me almost 30 years to figure that one out.

Everyday with Caleb brings something new, and I don't want to miss it for a second. At 10 months, he was just getting ready to take his first steps alone. Now he's walking and almost running all over the place. You can't keep this kid pinned down. My favorite times with Caleb are the times right before naps and bedtime when he'll snuggle into my arms while we read to him. Nothing better! I hope Caleb will really grow to love reading and enjoy it as much as he does now. Caleb is also gabbing up a storm. Last night he looked straight at Andrew's dad, pointed his finger and said, "Pop Pop." It was such a cute moment, and I'm pretty sure it melted Pop Pop's heart.

Should be getting some more pictures from daycare later today, but for now here are the ones from our 11 month photoshoot.


This time I had to give him the TV remote to keep him still, and even then it was a challenge.


Then he decided to stand up just as I was about to snap a picture.


Caleb decided to lay down, and I thought these ended up being pretty dang cute!