Backyard Fun

Why doesn't Mom ever think of these things?

Oh well. At least they lined the wheelbarrel with a tarp.

Dexter's First (real) Shoes!

Sure, he's had some cute shoes just for show, but he finally got some REAL shoes!

I must have tried 20 or 30 pair of shoes on the kid. Apparently, if your feet are as big as Dexter's, you should be ready for real toddler/preschooler shoes (with stiff materials and thick, hard soles). And if you're a walker, your baby fat should be gone from your feet. So everything we tried was either too small or too advanced of a shoe.

I even had him measured at Stride Rite, where they said they had ONE shoe that would fit him - the old school kind like kids wore in the 1960s. The exact kind no longer recommended for early walkers. ugh. I did not need to pay $50 for the privilege of putting him in those.

Finally, we found a brand called See Kai Run and ordered two pair. One didn't really fit (or Dexter was scrunching up his toes - we may never know) but the "Spencer" model fit perfectly! They were also the first shoe we ever put on him that he didn't try to stomp or kick off immediately.

We kept the size 5s we ordered and soon got a size 6 in the same model to have on hand for when he outgrows these. After that, he'll probably be ready for "real" shoes, which, thankfully, can be found inexpensively and in abundance in a variety of stores.

He likes them! (And they are apparently perfect for running around half-naked on one of the last nice days of the year!)

Dexter is 11 Months Old!

That's right. ELEVEN months! I can't believe it, either. If anything, the last month has gone by more quickly than any of the others.

As you can see in the photos, Dexter is as high-energy as ever. It's getting harder and harder to take these pictures, but Dexter is a good sport about it every time.







Let's see. On to the rundown.

• Teeth: Tooth #8 made its way through just a few days after he hit the 10 month mark. It's nice that he has an even set now. Grandma thinks she sees #9 way up in his gums, so it might be a little while before we see another. Dexter has been a real champ about the teething, too.
• Hair: Still no need for a haircut - yay! It's just a tiny bit over his ears, but it's still a long way from being in his eyes. I think we'll make it past his first birthday before he needs a haircut. (Good thing. I can't even get him to sit still long enough to clip all 10 fingernails in one sitting, even with the TV on. I can't imagine how a haircut would work.)
  
• Knees: Doing much better! Since Dexter started walking at 10m11d, he has pretty much abandoned crawling, and we're seeing some improvement in his formerly-rough knees. They're still cute and chunky, though.
  
• Weight: I admit we haven't weighed him recently. I'm still guessing approximately 26 pounds. He's just got so many better things to do now than eat. And he walks everywhere, so he's just a little calorie-burning machine.
  
• Height: Still unknown. We should try to measure the kid. :) We haven't had to adjust the carseat straps, though, so I'm guessing he's not much taller than he was a month or even 2 months ago. He can reach a little higher every day, though. The days of just closing doors to keep him out of places will clearly be coming to an end sooner rather than later.
  
• Sleep: MUCH better in the last couple of weeks! Apparently we were intervening too soon and not giving him a chance to go back to sleep on his own. Most nights, he wakes up once or twice, fusses mildly for about 2 minutes, then goes back to sleep. It'd be nicer (for everyone) if he could sleep solidly through, but this is not bad, either.
• Food: He's basically off of purees now, although we're going to try to use up what we have by treating it as spread for crackers. There's almost nothing he hasn't eaten in the world of table food, and he's willing to try everything. I'm still concerned about the volume of food he's getting (especially as we will be sunsetting the formula within the next 1-2 months or so), because a good chunk of what we give him still ends up on the floor or in his chair or in his clothes or diaper.
  
• Verbal: Working on it. We're still quite diligently reading to him every night (see more below), but he still only babbles. He DOES wave "bye bye" if you say "bye bye." (Finally! We've only been working on that for about six months.) But we're not confident that he understands what it means. He'll also put his arms up for "done" if you say "done." But we don't think he really knows what that means, either. Baby steps.
  
• Gross Motor: A walking (always), climbing (some), grabbing fiend. No issues here.
  
• Fine Motor: Dexter is quite, well, dexterous, at this point. Stacking blocks and nesting cups and boxes is old hat. Pincer grasp is down pat and comes in handy for eating all that table food. I'm not sure we're way ahead of the curve here, but I don't think we're behind.
  
• Books: Holy cow. No literally, his favorite book is about a cow. Her name is Millie Moo, and she is a CRAZY cow! And her friends have gone away. If we help her find them, we'll have fun along the way! Mostly, Dexter likes turning the pages. It's a touchy/feely book, so sometimes he likes to touch and feel the various pages. For a while, his favorite page was the one where the fish have fingers. ("Have you ever wondered/How different things would be/If all the fish had fingers/And WE lived in the sea?" Well, have you?) But now he mostly seems to want to just turn through all of the pages as quickly as possible to get to the end and see the last page. (Spoiler alert: Millie Moo's friends are hiding in the cow shed!)
  
• New Tricks: I mentioned waving "bye bye." In our world, that is HUGE. He's become nearly expert at opening and closing the garage door, and he's starting to figure out the light switches.
• Personality: Still incredibly happy nearly all of the time. I am starting to see signs of frustration when he can't communicate his wants and needs. (Hello?! If you'd just decide to say a word or two or sign something, we'd be happy to accommodate you, kiddo.) I guess this is our introduction to young toddlerhood. But I'm going to pretend it isn't. He's 11 months old and is still a baby, I tell you. MY BABY! And he still charms everyone wherever we go.