11 Months Old

After an extremely challenging month has come one of the best ones yet!  (Yes, I am going to resume saying that every month again.)  I am in constant awe over just how much his closure surgery has changed our lives.  This month Hayes has eaten better than he ever has before, talked more than I have ever heard a baby talk, and pushed himself to the limits when it comes to motion and movement.  It is truly like we have a totally different little boy...except he has the same bright smile, and loving demeanor, and beautiful blue eyes...  Oh, how I love this kid!  Just the other day I looked at Cody and asked him if this was all real.  If this joyful, silly, and perfect little boy was really ours.  I asked him how we got so lucky to be blessed with the best little boy in the world.  And for what might be the first time ever, my dear husband had no response.  We are not sure why God bestowed this amazing honor on us, but we do know one thing - we are so very glad that he did!  Here is what our little miracle is up to now...

• As I have said before, Hayes LOVES to hold on to things and stand.  And this month he has been practicing this skill on just about every object we have around the house - couches, tables, toys, chairs, us, etc, etc, etc...
• He has recently discovered that some of these objects are even sturdy enough that he can pull up all by himself too.  And his favorite place to try this cool new trick -  the bathtub.  I should probably stop him considering it is about the least safe place in the entire house to try this scary new feat, but he just looks so darn cute with that big prideful grin!
• We all know that standing quickly leads to cruising, and I was shocked when I saw Hayes take a few sidesteps while holding on to the couch the other day.  Thankfully, I had a friend over who also witnessed it because I could hardly believe my eyes.
• Unfortunately, Hayes is still not crawling though.  Well...at least not yet.  He has almost all of the pre-crawling skills in place, and he is soooo incredibly close.   Every day we work on it a little bit more, and I always have my video camera on hand just in case...
• So, it is obvious that Hayes has a few delays in his motor development, but he definitely makes up for it on the social end though.  He loves to clap his hands, sing little baby babble songs, and he even waves good-bye to a select certain few.  And although he is able to do all of these skills with ease, he refuses to do them on demand.  They must be done on his terms and in his time.  Strange...I have no idea where he gets that from.
• One of Hayes's favorite activities to do with others is a sort of back-and-forth mimicking game.  For instance, Hayes will make a crazy sound, then Cody will copy.  Then Cody will do something silly, and Hayes will do it right back.  This game goes on and on...and usually ends with both people laughing hysterically.  So silly!
• Oh, another funny thing that Hayes has started doing is pretending to share.  When playing on the floor with someone, he will oh-so-sweetly reach over and start to hand his unsuspecting victim a toy.  Then, just about the time that person is about to grab it, he quickly pulls it back in to play.  So far I have seen him trick about a dozen people with this funny move, and it never gets old for either of us!
• One thing that is not very funny is that Hayes seems to have selective hearing when it comes to the word "no."  He definitely knows what that word means, but he does not always seem to obey it.  I am not sure, but I think he inherited that from his dad. 
• Speaking of dads, Hayes has added the word "dada" to his repertoire.  He has been saying it for awhile now indiscriminately, but the other day it seemed to finally all come together for him.  He looked at Cody and said "dada."  Then, he turned to me and said "mama."  And you could almost see the lightbulb turn on inside of his head!
• As I am sure you can tell, Hayes has definitely been given the gift of gab.  This kid seriously talks all the time.  He talks about dada, then about mama, and I swear that he even talks about Lady Gaga sometimes.  Well, except he has not gotten down the "Lady" part just quite yet.  Maybe one day though.

Hayes Robert Davis

11 Months

Weight - ?

Height - ??

Head Circumference - ???
(It has been a week since Hayes has gotten weighed and measured, so I am not sure exactly what his numbers are right now.  I guess this just builds the anticipation for his one year check up next month!!)