Happy 11 Months!

No, he's not really one, yet. But, we celebrated early with our family in the U.S. before leaving for Olomouc on Monday. It was wonderful to make these memories with our family while we had the opportunity- and Jakub seemed to love the experience:)



Here he is with his first birthday cake, which was a train. I made it with the same train pans used to make Josh's first birthday cake by his Mom. I thought that was really sweet! I have more pictures from this event, but right now I'm borrowing some of my Grandfather's to show you. I'm too tired to download and sort through all of mine:)


Can you tell he likes cake? He devoured it and then sat back with satisfaction. I've seen some babies eat their first birthday cakes with hesitation and timidity, but that was not the case with Jakub! He didn't hesitate one bit. He took one bite, and then quickly shoveled more in. It was so much fun to watch (and a little worrisome when he took bites so big he could hardly breath through them!).

Here are some things I want to remember about Jakub at 11 months:
- You have a sweet nature and smile and it's usually the first thing people notice about you when meeting you. You've won many over with your smile:)

- You love to talk, mostly gibberish, and can say "mama, dada, wow, bye-bye, bow-wow, and possibly banana," though it sounds like nanana. You also tried to say belly button with me today, and it sounded like beee-bu bu. It was cute!

- You love to throw the ball, you throw on command, and will also hand it to me on command. You wave bye-bye and say it, you clap, high-five/pat-pat, give kisses, and bend down from standing, all on command. You really understand a lot of what we say to you and it's been amazing to watch you think things through and then do them. I know I'm biased, but you seem very aware, attentive, and intelligent.

- You point at everything in order to know what it is, and you also point at food when you want some. You especially love to point at the bottle of puffs when you want some. It's nice to be able to communicate with you in this way.

- You love to play chase, as your grandparents know well:) I love the scared laugh you have when I "catch" you.

- You wear mostly size 18 mo clothes, though some pants are a little long. The length in arms and torso work perfectly and I can't believe how tall you are. You're growing so quickly!

- You still put EVERYTHING in your mouth and the other day I had to sweep out, unknowingly, a beetle. Boy am I glad I didn't know that going in to it. If you ever eat a spider you're on your own! :)

- You still dance every time you hear music and you can push buttons on command to make your toys play music. You loved playing on the piano and the banjo while you were home with family. Sometimes you'll just sit and listen to music with us. We really love doing this with you.

- You're just starting to express frustration with some hand slapping on the floor or table when you are upset. Tonight you were upset in the tub that I wouldn't let you stand up over the edge, so you sat down and bent over in frustration, but you put your head in the water and were so confused by water being down there. It was really funny:)

- You eat anything we make or give you. You also drink out of a cup and straw now. You've been practicing using a spoon and self-feeding and you are pretty good at it already!

- You walk around everything and holding on to our hands, even only one hand, but you never try to do it alone yet. You like to climb up anything you can. You do the stairs really well, you try to get up on our couches, and you like to walk up our body while we hold your hands.

- You are a really good world-traveler:) You don't cry much, except when falling asleep, and you can go a long time without sleep and be ok. We felt so badly for you while traveling back from the U.S., but you just laid against me in your body carrier and watched the world go by with heavy eyes. We were so proud of you for doing so well!


I know there is so much more I'm not thinking of right now, but I have to get to bed. I'll post more later and hopefully will have many, many more pictures from the weddings and our time in the U.S. We had such a wonderful time. Thanks to all of our family and friends for making our trip home the best and most memorable yet. We love you and appreciate you more than you know!