11 months!

11 months!

10 months

9 months

 
8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Victor,

You are no longer the youngest cousin on the Anderson side--officially a bigger boy.

Just about every week at church we hear how big you're getting.  We know it's true!

As of this month...

* You are standing more and more, without holding on.  You haven't tried marching on your own, but you will walk if you're holding onto our fingers.  And you're a superfast crawler when you want to get going...

* You're gaining more finger dexterity all the time.  Just two days ago you maneuvered your first puffs into your mouth alone--and now you can do cheerios too.  This makes mealtimes even more exciting!

* You have 5 teeth now, 2 on top and 3 on the bottom.

* If something is in, you'll take it out.  If something is on top, you'll knock it off.  If something is empty, you'll fill it.  If something is folded, you'll toss it in the air!  These are some of your very favorite games.  (Daddy does find it very hard to build a good tower with your blocks, since you always tip it over...)

* Paper still reigns as the most fun thing.  One day I was sorting through the newspaper and let you play with all the unneeded advertisements.  It was such a fabulous time!  When you got tired waving them in the air, I stuffed them in a box, and you had fun pulling them all out again. 

* Your little spirit is definitely developing.  Most of the time you listen and obey quite well (mostly, "no touch, Victor").  But sometimes you exert yourself very decidedly.  One of our biggest goals is to help you learn that you are not the boss... God is the boss.  Momma often, often says, "Victor, God says, Children obey your parents in the LORD, for this is right.  Honor your father and your mother, for this is the first commandment with a blessing... We want you to know God's fullest blessing, so you must learn to obey."

* Old toys are fun in new ways now.  You crawl under the exersaucer, like a little fort.  You enjoy waving your shape-sorter bucket in the air to empty all the pieces expeditiously.  You still love peekaboo, but now you will hold something up and then yank it down and laugh hysterically.  So fun!

* You love your little socks.  Pretty much all day, you have one in your little fist.  You'll pull them off your feet or pick them up whenever you find them.  Sometimes I'll put on your coat, take you somewhere, get home, and take off your coat, only then finding that you were holding a sock the whole time.  This makes folding laundry extra exciting.  You grab those little socks as soon as you see them ... and take them many places.  So today I did a load of laundry, and out of 6 socks, only one pair matched.  And you carried one of those somewhere else, so now we're really sunk.  (Makes Momma realize she's a little OCD about matching pieces...)

* You're a good sleeper these days--normally bedtime is around 6:45pm and you'll wake up around 5:30am or so (better now that we realized Daddy's vibrating phone alarm was waking you up on the window ledge).  And you take two 1 1/2- or 2-hour naps.  This helps Momma out tremendously!

* Food is pretty much always welcome, and now Momma has begun making her own baby food concoctions for you--avocado squash carrots or chicken veggie rice or banana baked apples...  The worst food experience has been a horrific (i.e. swollen and blistering) diaper rash after sampling some baby food that included citrus.  Note to self!  And the most fabulous development is that Momma can now eat dairy freely without any apparent ill-effects on you!  Hurray and praise the Lord!

* You are a bit of an adrenaline junky and love swooping and rolling around with Momma, Daddy, or whoever else may indulge in some tumbling.  

* You LOVE your little donkey and duck that you sleep with.  They are soggy, limp, and gray from your tender loving care, but it has made it easier to sleep away from home, having some special friends to snuggle with.

* You know how to sign "please" and "more."  Unfortunately, you're currently on strike from "please," though we'll keep trying to bring out the polite and gracious side...

* Our favorite is your fun laughs and noises.  You make a great sputtering laugh that sounds like a horse neighing.  And you and Daddy will go back and forth saying, "Eh?"  Oh how we chuckle.

You are our favorite small person, and we love you very much!  May God continue to grow your body strong and healthy and most of all give you a heart that is tender and open to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hugs and snuggles,
Momma