Benjamin: 11months, 7 days

We are now on an official countdown to 1 year!
I love watching Ben learn. The other day I was watching him as he stared intently at the sunbeam across his bed and tried over and over to pick it up so he could get a taste of it. And tonite he was trying to get a hold on the stream of water coming out of a cup in the bathtub. Today he took his first real steps. Steady standing, one, than two, wait a sec, and then he bit it. I know he is close to taking off completely and he is eager and willing.
Will taught him how to break his crackers into pieces before putting them in his mouth (which is just plain messy!) but Ben thought it was totally cool! He doesn't like cheese, and much prefers his Gerber baby food to anything else we offer him(even squash!). He must take his bottle in his crib all alone, because otherwise he will be too distracted to eat. He likes to push the crib from the wall so he can toss his bottle back behind it, where it lands on a cush-y pile of his discarded socks. He plays just like a puppy, always coming back for more. He is really scared of babydolls, and more scared of babies (which I suppose he considers to just be possessed dolls). But he doesn't back down from a fight. I actually caught him hitting Sara today when she took his book away!
He likes to say "Huh?" whenever I give him a command. I will repeat it and he says "Huh?" again. He can do that four or five times before I give up. I don't know who taught him that little trick, but I have three suspects.
He still sleeps 12 hours at night and has good morning and afternoon naps, although the time change has made that a bit rocky.
He says, "Mama, Dada, Ba (for bottle), Hiya, Buh-Bye" and that's it.
He's sweet, I love 'im and can't wait till he is running around!