11

It is amazing to me to think that this little boy is already almost a year old! It's been incredible to watch him change and grow and develop such an awesome personality. He's such a happy boy! He laughs and smiles all the time.

Eating: Eating is Ruston's specialty. There isn't a thing he won't try. (Also including inedible things, such as remotes, Chapstick, tables, and dogs.) He eats a lot of table food. Every once in a while we'll have something for dinner I don't think he should have, or he just won't like it, so there is still some baby food mixed in there as well. His favorite lunch is a "sandwich." I'll tear up a piece of cheese, slice of bread, and piece of turkey and he just goes to town! With the increased amount of table food came an increased mess. He is the messiest eater!! It's OK, though..it's cute. (for now) :) He's really into his sippy cup and I don't think it's going to be hard at all to switch him from the bottle.

He has a tooth! One finally came in! He definitely doesn't like to show it off, though. He squeezes his lips shut and pushes my hands away whenever I try to look at it. So no pictures. :( One of his favorite things to do is "attack" us. haha. He'll come at us full force (open mouth the whole way) and slobber all over us. Now that this tooth is here, it's not quite as fun for us! One of his favorite spots is our knees!?! Here he is heading for mine!

Sleeping: Are you ready for this??? He sleeps!!! Crazy, I know. I swear, it was just like one night, he just "got it." We got really lazy about how we were putting him to sleep and he was ending up in our bed every night. August 1st I said no more and started our repeat round of sleep training. There are nights that he screams, but most nights, he lays right down and I'll pat his back until he falls asleep. Now, he still doesn't sleep as long as other babies I've heard. His average is about 9:30 pm to 5 a.m. But that is amazing for him! Every morning I walk in and tell him how proud I am of him. He responds with the biggest, sweetest smile I've ever seen.

Playing: He still plays with EVERYTHING! He loves his real toys and he loves things that he decides should be toys. A new favorite is my Chapstick. He will get a death grip on that tube and not let go until something really fabulous steals his attention. He still cracks up when he looks at pictures of us. We're re-doing our picture wall right now, so we've got some pictures on the floor. He crawls up to them and just starts laughing. He'll point at us and smile as big as day. (He can only point with his left hand! The right hand he still just reaches out with his whole palm open. Does this mean he'll be left handed?!)

He learned to clap this month! Its so cute...we'll say "yaaay!" and he'll stop whatever he's doing, break into a huge smile, and clap his hands. He seems like such a big boy now. He likes to pretend too. We like to pretend we're eating or drinking with his toys. He's gotten really good at lifting a cup himself and pretending to drink.

He's starting to show more interest in his books. We have pretty much always read every night, but he never paid much attention to the books any other time. Now he'll choose books from his toy baskets and sit and turn the pages for a while.

He loves to play with anything he's not supposed to have! Dad's surround sound speakers and receiver are really hard to stay away from. Diesel's water bowl is also incredibly tempting. Ruston likes to copy things we're doing. When I'm in the kitchen, he wants to pull out every single tupperware dish and spread them all over the house. When Danny works out, he wants to use his equipment too!

Bath time is still a fun time. He crawls around chasing his toys. His favorites are the puffer fish and the hermit crab. He'll choose those first every time. He definitely DOES NOT like rinsing his hair. He hates leaning back so I can pour water over his head. He screams, arches his back and tries to roll over and get away from me. So I've started just dumping the water on his head. I feel so mean! He hates it too and usually ends up screaming as soon as he catches his breath. Then he stands up and tries to crawl out of the bath tub. So I always have to save that for the very end of bath time. haha

Moving: Not walking yet, but getting very brave with letting go of things and just standing. Whenever he decides he wants to go somewhere, it doesn't seem like walking even crosses his mind. He just plops down on his booty and takes off. He's really fast now and can get anywhere he wants to. Other than crawling and cruising, he likes to push things! Not just his toys or boxes, he pushes our kitchen chairs! These chairs are really tall and I think they're rather heavy, but he'll push them clear across the house!

Talking: Ruston understands so much of what we say to him. He knows what his bottle is, and can find Danny, Diesel and myself when we ask "Where's daddy?" Still no real words coming from him. He makes mostly sounds. He likes to say "duh" and "buh". He will definitely talk to you and have a conversation, though. And though I might not know what he's saying, I seem to be able to convince him that I do....because he keeps right on talking back to me. :) He still makes all kinds of sounds with his mouth. He can make a smacking noise, and his favorite is to blow and make his lips shake/vibrate. He usually just does it with his lips, but sometimes he'll throw his tongue in there and end up spitting all over the place. :)

This little boy can make any day great and turn any mood into a good one. I love spending time with him and watching him learn. Can't wait to see what's in store for us and this busy body this month!