Almost 11 months old!

JohnJohn is almost 11 months old and doing really well! He has really taken off as a crawler, and loves to be chased, especially if we're crawling also. He loves to crawl everywhere, his favorite places being the hall upstairs, where he can crawl into all the bedrooms, around the coffee table and the recliner in the family room, and from the family room down the front hall, through the dining room and into the kitchen. He's so smart, it didn't take him long to realize he could get to the kitchen that way, since there is a big, long baby gate blocking the open doorway from the family room into the kitchen.

JohnJohn is now working really hard at getting into a standing position on his own. If one of us is sitting on the floor with him, JohnJohn will crawl over and pull up on us, no problem. When he crawls to furniture, toys, or us if we're on the couch/chair, he'll get onto his knees (his now favorite way to play with some toys) and try to pull up, getting one leg or the other into the standing position but not able to or too timid to pull up with both legs standing. However, last night he did pull up on one of his toys by himself, to many cheers from Mommy and Daddy, so it won't be long before he's all the way up on his own! (And as I am updating this, the little man just crawled to the couch and pulled himself up without help!)

Our little monkey still has only 2 teeth, on the bottom, but I am sure more teeth are imminent. His drooling has really picked up again, so it shouldn't be long before more make an appearance. John loves to give kisses, which are sweet but very messy since they are wide-open mouth kisses.

Nana came to visit a couple of weekends ago. John really enjoyed having his Nana around for the weekend. He gave her lots of hugs and kisses, and really loved trying to pull her glasses off when she was wearing them. Unfortunately, all the pictures taken were with Nan's camera, so no new pictures to post.

This week is my spring break and we're just relaxing at home- I really am enjoying getting to spend day time with John! This Saturday is the Gamecock football Spring Game in Columbia, and we are aiming to go. It will be JohnJohn's first trip to Columbia, and his first Carolina football game. I think we're planning on taking two cars to the game so Nanny Sarabeth and I can leave with JohnJohn after a while, and Bill and James can stay for the whole thing. Hopefully the weather will cooperate! I want to go early, before the game, so we can get JohnJohn's picture with Cocky and maybe a football player or too (but mostly Cocky).

Pictures: John up on his knees,playing with a toy; at our neighborhood playground on a pretty day; being cute; sitting with Mommy; listening to Daddy read his favorite story; with his hair looking redder than it really is; and hugging a teddy bear when asleep

Video: more crawling!