It’s been a long 11 months, 11 months of eating, growing, getting smarter and getting cuter – among hundreds of other very important activities. Today Mikey is a cute little boy who can almost walk on his own – which is truly shocking since  only 11 months ago he was a completely helpless little worm. He can definitely stand on his own now, and can take up to 8 little steps, as recorded by GrandMa Raisa.

What else can Mikey do?

He can drink from a sippy cut by tilting his head back and raising the bottom of the cup. I know, nothing we, seasoned adults, haven’t seen before, but Mikey figured this out only about a week ago. And it was amazing when he did it  - without any warning or hesitation. He just did it.

Mikey can spin on the floor in both directions using his arms – and he loves it. He’s been doing this for a couple of months now.

Mikey can point at the right characters in the book. For example, one of the board books has a little blue baby bird  on every page  - and today he found it everywhere! I was impressed. He can point to bears, mice, hares… pretty cool! He does get distracted and makes mistakes but this makes you realize he actually understands some instructions though he can’t speak yet.

Talking bout speaking, Mikey does speak. He uses lots of different cadences and syllables to express what he wants/feels. He says, da-da, pa-pa, ma-ma, la-la, na-na, ba-pa, le-le, and lots of other un-transcribable words with alien consonants and “Th”-like sounds. It does sound like talking though it – obviously – makes no sense. It is very cute and engaging nevertheless. He’s almost getting the difference between “mama”and “papa” now – not totally  there but there’re times, like today, for example, when he called Scott “papa” all day long.

He’s been signing along to songs and lullabies! I think he’s got a pretty good ear since he gets some of the pitches right. It’s also very, very cute when he does it. You can be putting him to bed, and he’ll sing himself a lullaby.

What does Mikey like to do?

He likes – LOVES! – to be a human vacuum cleaner, which means picking up the tiny and the not so tiny specks of trash of usually unknown origin (little black pieces of something, not sure where they come from) – with his naturally sticky fingertip of his right index finger. Anything that would stick to it ends up in his mouth. Disgusting, I know, but supposedly it’s the way to build a strong immune system. At least that’s what I tell myself when I don’t make it on time to cover the appetizing speck of trash with my foot before he gets to it. He’s been doing this for at least a months.

Mikey loves dancing to music. It used to look like rocking but now he can repeat your moves, and sometimes even improvise. Very cute.

Mikey really likes to squeeze into spots clearly too narrow for his size, like between you and the kitchen counter, a small door crack, a space between two chairs, in other words, into a crack of any size, no matter how small. He regularly gets stuck and screams bloody murder.

Mikey loves to torment the cat, when he gets the chance. Pulling on the cat’s ears and fur gives him visible joy.

Last few days Mikey has been playing with the tennis ball, and he can throw it pretty well at you, and you roll it back to him. It’s actual playing! very exciting.

Walking all over the house while holding on to someone’s hands is his ultimate activity right now. He gets to lead you around, going places he want to go. Which are usually the guest bathroom and the long hallway, where he normally doesn’t get to go. He also loves walking over a step in the guest bathroom over and over again, up to 20 times! It’s amazing how tenacious and patient he is in mastering new skills.

Sucking on anything he can get his hands on goes without saying…

Looking out of the window

Pulling on wires of any kind

Wrapping himself into anything – a fleece, a pillow, a blanket…

Pulling apart the rubber mat flooring

Pulling on drapes

…and so much more…

What does Mikey dislike?

Feeling rejected is definitely a new powerful emotion, when, say, you’ve been holding him, or walking with him, or doing something else he likes to do, and all of a sudden you have to let him go. He cries really loudly, and lately he’s been plopping his whole body on the floor between his legs, with his head to the ground. It is the saddest and most pathetic and most heart wrenching thing you ever saw. Makes you wonna pick his up that same second and hug him till the end of time. Alas, phones to ring, milk does over boil, and luckily, if you leave Mikey in that sad prone state, he recovers amazingly   quickly given the apparent depth of suffering and the uncanny dramatic talent of his performance.

The ultimate long-lasting dislike, even fear, is fingernail clipping. He hates it, and screams the entire time without taking a breather as if he’s being branded with hot iron. Go figure, and it doesn’t even hurt!

Mikey only tolerates his high chair. He can usually handle it for a little while but then he starts wailing and trying to get out. If he were not strapped in, he’d climb up onto the seat and try to fall out of it no matter how high it is. Not the brightest of his moments. And he usually rips off his bib with a vengeance  - not sure why – when he’s done eating.

What we/I like about Mikey.

I really like that Mikey  - unlike most people I know  - is neither a proud nor a stubborn baby. Not yet, I have a feeling. He can adamantly shake his head “NO!” to another offering of food or milk, and yet a few seconds later he’ll be peacefully accepting it. Over and over. It’s just adorable, and I want it to last!  

We like the slapping sound his palms make on the floor when he “runs” – usually when he fear the office door open, which is typically closed for safety purposes (wires, computers, lots of drawers). And then we walks in on his fours, looking like a little puppy, with a big happy smile and happy squeals.  So cute – but you need to see it to believe it.

Mikey is so easily amused it’s not even funny. We LOVE that about him because, call in manipulation, but you can make him do pretty much anything once he’s amused. Any kind of a theater-like show – a dancing ladle, whoo-hoo!- can captivate his attention so firmly that he can be fed most of his food without protest. That being said, without a show – or having something to throw off his high chair tray, like the wooned spoons – Mikey simply won’t eat. I do worry that he’ll turn into that person who can only eat in front of the television. Well, I suppose we’ll have some time to change that once his appetite is more steady.

I personally do like the fact that Mikey still has no teeth though some people think it’s getting a little weird by now. I’m sure he’ll sprout teeth soon but I say, the less I have to brush them the better. I KNOW he’s gonna hate having his teeth brushes, and since both dressing him and changing him feel like wrestling with a small but willful, strong, and very squirmy animal – very tiring, I have to say  - it’s no surprise I’m no rush to add another struggle to the list. I don’t know why but it is exactly when I change or dress him that he decides that he REALLY needs to go over there and do that. And the whining begins… with the never-ending attempts to squirm out of your hands, or quickly crawl away bare-bottomed, or with his pants at his knees.

I LOVE Mikey. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone or anything so all-acceptingly, all-forgivingly, and all-encompassingly. I feel so lucky to have been granted the privilege to feel this way at least once in my life. And I do know that years down the line, no matter how our relationship develops and what path he takes in life,  at the end of the day I’ll always love him the way I do today. He’ll always be my baby to me!  :)