The Eleven-Month Mark

Mark Hanley, at Eleven Months

The measurements: About 22 lbs, 28.5 in. (measured with a yard stick and a home scale). Grandma Sue says I'm starting to look "average" rather than "chunky," but Mom and Dad aren't convinced.

Best Friends: Books (when Mom snapped the picture on the right, she wondered if I'm a blooming young scholar or displaying early signs of A.D.D.), tiny plastic balls, and Jack. I say "hi" to Jack constantly (even when he's not there) and chase him around the house as fast as my hands-and-knees will carry me. I can tug Jack's rope (although he often pulls me over) and play fetch with him. I can only throw his ball a few feet, but he brings it back to me nonetheless. Playing fetch makes me laugh like crazy.

Enemies: Naps! Why would I want to sleep for three hours every afternoon when I could be spending that time playing with Mommy and Jack?? Nay nay, I say. Instead, I've built some amazing Bed Sensor Technology. I might fall asleep while I'm drinking my bottle or riding in the car, but no matter how Pinocchio-without-strings my body may seem, I can sense that bed coming. As soon as my bottom (or side or belly) touches it, I wake up and start screaming like my leg has been severed. Then I start laughing and talking, ready to play again.

Just found out about: Talking. This is a skill that alternately confuses my parents and truly blows them away. So far, Mom is sure that I can say "hi" and "Jack" (dad is not so sure). But sometimes I try out some other things on them just to see if they're listening (or maybe test their faith in me). For example, the other day mom told me to stop banging on the dishwasher door while she was loading it. I sat down, and she said "thank you." I looked at her and said something that sounded a whole lot like "thank you." She was skeptical. It couldn't be, she thought. But I just might have said it. Other words I might have said: mama, dada, hello, bye.

I'm not so sure about: Standing. I can do what Dad calls a "Road Runner Stand." Road Runner (I'm told) can run over the edge of a cliff, suspended in midair, as long as he doesn't realize he's gone over the edge. I can stand by myself, without holding onto anything, as long as I don't realize I've let go. So Mom and Dad are always trying to distract me with toys or funny dances, then timing how long I can stand on my sea legs.

Favorite activities: Crawling, swimming, reading books about animals, pulling grass out by the roots, going to the zoo, singing songs (or at least doing the gestures while Mommy sings), being tickled, tapping people on the shoulder and waiting for them to turn around.

I have a crush on: My Auntie Laura! She just moved from Florida to Illinois so she could spend more time with me! I am so excited to get to see her and play with her whenever I want!

Major accomplishments: Saying my first words, standing on my own, learning to "blow kisses" (although it looks like I'm slapping myself in the mouth), cutting my two front teeth, using the sign for "all done" when I'm finished eating, and--Mommy's favorite--understanding the word "no." When I start to climb up the stairs, she says "no" and I sit down. When I try to put the dog's food in my mouth, she says "no" and I stop. At music class, another boy kept crawling out of the room and down the hall, forcing his mommy to chase him. On the third try, I started to hightail it out of the room behind him. But Mommy said "no," and I stopped. I sat in the doorway for his other two escape attempts, just shaking my head "no" and thinking, "Didn't you hear my Mommy say no?" All of the other mommies in the room agreed: I am a very, very good boy.