NEW THINGS!!!

Hunter is almost 11 months old and I wanted to share some of the new things that he is doing and that we are experiencing as he reaches the 1 year mark!

He is 25 pounds and 30 inches tall (as of a month ago) The nurse had to measure him twice because she didn't believe it, that he was actually 3o inches long!
Hunter scooted just before 9 months or army crawl as some of you know it. He didn't understand to pick up his fat belly off of the floor and crawl ( : But, just a couple weeks ago he figured out and got strong enough to lift his belly off the floor and actually CRAWL. So now he does both, he crawls and then scoots, then scoots and crawls. He is silly.
He actually started pulling up weeks before he crawled which is so silly. I have learned as a mother to just go with the flow and let your baby develop how he or she wants to and learns to and not go by the book. If we did go by the book then Hunter would be "slow" or have some sort of problem! BUT, he is just thriving and hitting every milestone just not in order! lol ( :
He pulls up on everything and he is now starting to cruise accross the couch and let go of the coach and grab a chair or someone. He can walk if you hold his hands too and he does it very very well. We think at his 1 year birthday he will be walking some.....
Physically Hunter is big and just a tad behind some babies his age...but cognitively he is way above average. He was waving at 7 months and clapping at 8 months. By 9 months he was waving when we would just say "bye bye" and when we yell "YAY" he claps his hands or when he does something good he claps. He is such a smart baby. He knows where things are now he grabs things out of a bucket and puts them back...he even rolls a ball back and forth to you and puts them in a hole. He is such a smart little guy and we are having so much fun with him.
Well baby food is out the door. After having all kinds of real "people food" and snacks, he does not want anything to do with baby food. He is now eating mashed potatoes, green beans, brown beans (these are his FAVORITE) all kinds of crackers and bread, real fruits, and he absolutely LOVES ICE WATER!!! He drinks it all day out of a straw....
This isn't surprising though because he does have 8 teeth. And these are not just poking out of the gum they are almost all the way through totally and you can see them. He loves to chew and crunch is food!
He still wants his bottles but he isn't 1 year yet so I am not stressing about the bottle right now.
Hunter has been saying DaDa and Mama since 8 months but now he is making up his own words like "Dugga Dugga" and "Doy Doy" and "Baa Baa" We can tell that he wants to talk so bad but can't just yet.
He loves to be outside more than anything. If it wasn't 100 degrees out we would be outside a lot more. But when the temperature is down we are outside either walking, pulling the wagon around, or even swinging!!! We bought him a baby pool and he loves to spash in that outside on our porch so its shaded or course....but he loves outside and anything to do with it lol.
Animals....animals....animals....this kid for sure took after his mother on this one! He is an animal lover.....He loves dogs, cats, hamsters....anything.....if it's some sort of animal he wants to touch it! ( : He grins from ear to ear when he see's my mom's cats and the dogs outside. He laughs and pets them ( we are teaching him to be gentle) and loves to just sit on the swing and watch them. Hew also LOVES my grandma's dog Barney, he is so sweet and lets hunter pet him!
We are so thankful that he loves animals and cares for them its such a good quality to have.
He has no fear of anything and takes on any task at hand even if its challenging....I think that shows he is secure and knows that mommy and daddy are always there for him.
Hunter sleeps throught he night (has since 6 months) from about 9pm-7 or 8am! Pretty good for a baby huh!!!! Thats been a true blessing to not have to get up in the middle of the night for a bottle....because he stopped nursing at 6 and 1/2 months as well.
We are almost ready to throw away the pacifiers as well...he really only needs them when he is tired. thats it! Thats one thing I cannot stand is babies walking around (or toddlers) with binky's in their mouths....we want to try to get him away from it and forget about it by his birthday!
Well, I am 100% sure I am leaving something out.......but oh well I will get back with you someother day! My mind seems to be elsewhere.....