11/12ths

Francis turned 11 months old today and looks more like a little boy now. He's still not walking, but likes to climb onto low objects and got stuck in a box yesterday (I didn't have a camera handy, but I'm sure he'll do it again).

Francis continues to defy the advise of baby experts everywhere by surviving on less than 9 hours of sleep a night. Last weekend he woke up around 5:15, ready to start the day. After eating, playing, eating, and going for an hour-long walk, we still managed to get to the post office and library before they opened.

Francis continues to enjoy crawling around in the grass which he did last weekend at Centennial Park. He got to try one bite of milkshake which he loved. His new favorite foods are waffles, kiwis, blueberries and fake sausages.

Francis's hair is ridiculously long but is not noticeable unless it's wet (as seen in the bathtub photos below).

Francis is finally interested in sitting still long enough to be read a short book. He has recently added Are You My Mother and Big Dog Little Dog to the collection.

10 1/2 months

Francis continues to run wild and keeps us busy chasing after him. He's not walking yet but is increasingly confident in cruising around while holding onto stuff. He repeats sounds we make like "yeahyeahyeah" "lalalalala" and "dadadadada" and he seems to understand more of what we say to him (even if he ignores us).

Francis got sick recently with a fever of 104.7 and a splotchy rash (seen in the topless photos below) but he's fully recovered by now. He is too excited about life to want to sleep through the night and over the past weekend woke up several nights at 3am screaming for company (for hours).

For those who think Francis is a little too protected from germs and danger, please enjoy the video of Francis's carefully supervised exploration of a flower pot, accompanied by a still picture of eating dirt. Francis has recently enjoyed crawling long distances through the yard and collecting leaves and sticks.