Tay is 11 months old today.
One month away from his first year.
One month away from the exit of babyhood.
Sort of. The beginning of the end of babyhood.
This month Tay’s personality exploded all over the place.
He started waving at people (and animals), pointing at things (and people and animals), laughing at silly word games, hiding his face from strangers and coyly peeking at them only to hide his face again and so on, clearly requesting/refusing things, developing a concept of “mine” as well as a (sometimes tearful) understanding of “no” and many other things that indicate a little footbridge brooking the gap between baby and toddler.
He’s still only got two bottom teeth, but Piet thinks he felt the top two starting to break through this morning. He continues to eat EVERYTHING (with the acception of avocado) and by everything I do mean everything. Here in Spain he’s eaten ajo blanco, gazpacho, marinated artichoke hearts, nisperos and pretty much anything else we allow him to eat. This includes a slice of lemon we gave him yesterday to try to deter the rampant eating.
He ate the whole thing, rind included.
We’re starting to wonder if the kid truly likes the taste of food or simply has no taste buds at all.
He’s sooooo close to his first step, we can practically taste it (maybe if steps could actually be tasted Tay would take the first one sooner). He walks with the help of anything he gets his hands on, cruises effortlessly and constantly lets go of his aids to stand alone, but that first step just barely eludes him.
He’s become cuddlier while also becoming slightly more independent with his play.
He clearly loves his Mama and Papa.
He’s starting to have favorite toys and games and songs.
And sooner than I can imagine he’ll be celebrating his very first birthday.
My boy.
A Patchwork of Daydreams 
H also loves lemon. And anti-bacterial wipes. I haven’t seen him turn up his nose at anything, he loves avocado sandwhiches. Though he seems to prefer to hold cooler foods, he doesn’t like meat or anything else that’s too hot. He is also becoming very familiar with the concept of “mine”.
A very happy picture of the two of you in Spain.