11 Months!!

Zane (11 mos) at a mini-photo shoot for his birthday invitations

I am so far behind!!! This irritates me and stresses me out more than you would think! I was really enjoying my little month by month history of Zane's life and then I had to go and skip 2 whole month milestones. It has just been the craziest summer and, when I barely have time to keep up with laundry and keep enough bottles clean in the house, blogging just falls to the bottom of the priority list. I have really only been on the computer to pay bills since May.

But, despite the mess that is my house, the bills that need to get paid today, the baby shower this afternoon, and everything else that I should probably be doing, I am making it a priority to post today (And by that, I mean that I started on Sunday, 8/1, and it took me 6 days to finish!). You know why? Because my baby boy is 11 months old! This is my last "month" post before his birthday. I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown!

Zane at 8 months

Zane,

We have so much fun with you! At less than a year of age, you have such expression and personality. You love to make us smile and laugh with you. Everyone that spends time with you loves you! You are pretty laid back most of the time but you do have something to say if another kid gets into your personal space bubble. You are sometimes a little unsure of strangers, but once you warm up to someone, you do great.

We have had so many milestones over the last few months! You started crawling Memorial Day Weekend, just before you turned 9 months old. You execute a perfect army crawl, fit for military duty, getting you across a room in no time. You use your elbows and your big toes to push yourself around, and you mop mommy's floor in the process. At this point, you know how to crawl on your hands and knees but you generally revert to army crawling, especially if you are in a hurry.

Zane Crawling

You started really talking in June! To be honest, I think you have been saying "da-da" since about April but I was in denial until you started saying "ma-ma" at the end of May. By now, you consistently call us by name, Gigi, Pops or Papa, ball, more "mo-mo", dog "dah", Max "Ma", Smallz "Ba", duck, truck, cup, bottle, juice "ju", and about 25 other words that you can repeat if we say them. You jabber all the time, whether we understand you or not.

In the beginning of July, you started pulling up. This happened the same day that you got tubes in your ears. I think it helped your balance to get that fluid off your little ears. Now you are pulling yourself up on everything and cruising around the furniture. I am pretty sure you will be walking by your birthday!

Some of your favorite things right now are food, snapping your fingers, banging toys on the floor or each other, clapping, & watching Baby Einstein. You have so much personality!

Zane at 10 months

We have been really busy this summer. Daddy started his new job in May. He is doing Public Relations for the North Tarrant Express highway project and he loves it. He has missed his time at home with you but he is glad to be back to work. So, we have adapted to both working again and you have gone back to school. You are back at the same daycare but in a different classroom. You have lots of fun there playing with your friends and learning so many things.

At the beginning of May, we had a good visit with the Curry cousins. Uncle Robin, Aunt Jill, Emma & Foster came down from Tulsa for your baby dedication. Uncle Craig, Aunt Fallon, & Lylah weren't able to stay, but they came for part of the weekend to see everyone. It was a blast to watch you all play together! Here are some of our favorite memories from May:

Zane (8 mos) with London & Hadley at London's birthday party
(Mommy & Daddy went to college with both London & Hadley's parents)

I couldn't resist!

Zane got a haircut (NOT his first!) at Gigi's house

"Save me!"

All the Curry grandkids with Gigi & Pops
Lylah (4 mos), Zane (8 mos), Foster (5 1/2 mos), & Emma (3)

Zane with 2 of our favorite girls- Emma & Isabella (9)

"Chick" shirts
(Zane's says "Chicks Are All Over Me")

For Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip to Lubbock and visited your Great-grandmom & Great- granddad (Gigi's parents), and you met Mawmaw & Pawpaw Wes (Pops' mom & Step-dad) for the first time. Your great-grandparents were all very excited to see you and you were a perfect little guest. Even visiting Pawpaw Wes at the hospital, you brightened up the whole room. Wes passed away in July and I am so glad that I have that memory of you playing with him and making him smile.

Zane with Great-Grandmom

Zane with Great-Granddad

On Memorial Day, we drove back home and you went swimming for the first time with Lylah at Pops' house. You had a blast! You love swimming and splashing.

Zane (9 mos) & Lylah (4 1/2 mos) with Pops

June was another busy month. We squeezed in some time with friends between trips and work. You went back to Lubbock with Mommy, Pops, & Gigi in the middle of June when PawPaw Wes got really sick. Mommy left from there to go on a trip to Austria for work that made me leave you for a whole week!! Your time with Gigi & Pops in Lubbock was your first overnight without either of us. I think it was much harder on us than it was on you. You had a blast with 4 grandparents to spoil you rotten! You returned home to Daddy and he survived 5 days by himself with you but he made sure I knew that I was very missed. Being away from you was really hard, but I had a great time on my trip. Since I took the camera with me, we don't have as many June pictures:

Zane (9 mos) playing with good friend Micah (6 1/2 mos)

Pops using his super-human ability to put babies to sleep

July brought more craziness but you always roll with the punches. We spent some great time with friends on several weekends. You got to see your first fireworks on Independence Day. You thought they were pretty neat but you were a little more interested in playing with your toys. Mommy hurt her back at the beginning of the month and spent most of the rest of the month trying not to pick you up! That was very hard!! I probably shouldn't be picking you up now as much as I do, but a boy needs his Mommy sometimes. :-)

You got to spend a lot of time with cousins in July which was really fun. Noah stayed with Mimi & Papa Bear for a week so you got to play with him several times while he was there. He came to our house and followed you around while you showed him all your favorite things to get into- the cat door on the closet, the dogs' water bowl, and an empty 2 liter. :-)

Zane & Noah

Here are some fun pictures from July:

Zane ate almost an entire biscuit by himself at McDonald's

Zane decided that it can be more fun to crawl through a toy than to play in it!

Zane with his friend Caleb

Emma & Foster also came to stay with Gigi & Pops for a week while Uncle Robin & Aunt Jill celebrated their anniversary. Gigi got sick while they were there and we spent some time helping out. Corralling a 3 year old, 10 month old, & 8 month old was exhausting for Mommy & Daddy, but you had a blast playing with your cousins!

Fun with cousins!

Zane & Foster getting to know each other

Zane (10 mos) & Foster (8 mos) eating & playing

"Ready to swim Mom!"

Zane playing with Emma

We are hoping for some normal weeks now that summer is winding down. I realized this week that I don't think we have had 1 week where we all worked and went to school all 5 days all day, slept in our own beds every night, with everyone feeling well since at least May! We have dealt with illnesses, injuries, travels, death, fleas, teething, and broken A/C's all summer.
You are growing up so fast! We have been planning your first birthday party and I have been both excited and sad about how big you are getting!

We are so proud of what a big boy you are becoming, Little Man!

With Love,

Mommy (Crystal)