My little fella, Ira, is almost always clambering to get into my arms or on my body. He's such a momma's boy right now! Most of the time, I'm so flattered. Occasionally, I'm exhausted.

I wanted to take a couple snaps of Ira looking out the window but as soon as he saw me he made his way over to me. Ira holding onto my pant legs is my mother view right now!

This past year has sped by! Has it already been almost a year since Ira was born? Ira continues to be a joy! A few weeks ago, he decided to start crawling on his hands and knees and hasn't really looked back. He's crawling around all over the place and pulling himself up to standing constantly (my couch is covered in Ira height snot smears). Ira's like a goat in that if I'm sitting or lying on the floor, he's climbing onto me.

Let's talk about sleep. Conor and I made some desperate (but deliberate) adjustments to Ira's sleep life. He now sleeps at night in Conor's office and naps in our room. I get him up and feed him at around 10pm before I go to bed and then he sleeps until 7 or 8am. This is an incredible improvement! When I go get Ira after his naps, he always scooted into the corner closest to the door waiting for me.

Ira loves to eat and has decided that spoon fed baby food is for babies and he'd like to eat with his hands thank you very much, unless he's being offered yogurt, in which case, shovel 'er on in. He can reliably drink from a sippy cup (finally).

Ira can say "uh-oh" and "hi" and has an adorable little wave. He's cuddly, something I really love about him. I melt every time he snuggles into me. To get really close, he'll roll himself right into me nice and tight. He did that to his big bro, E, the other day - rolled into him for a snuggle.

Ira loves taking a bath. Water is where it's at for him! I'm looking forward to summertime and swim lessons. Ira likes to be outside and when I get out his snow suit, he crawls over to it and holds it until I put it on him. Ira continues to be a really easy going and good natured guy. His body weight and size is so compact and sweet. I sure love my pumpkin pIra.

Today, on his sister's 11th birthday, he is 11 months old. He's snotty nosed and globs of drool fall from his mouth. He has scratches on his face and a bruise that's almost faded. His father and I disagree about a haircut. Why does he need to look tidier, different? Can't he be a baby for a little longer? I'm mesmerized by the curl of hair behind his ear. He's the last one. My body has no lingering plans to hold another bundle of cells until they grow into a human. My body will never nourish another the way it does now. So no, let's leave his hair a little longer and let it grow longer.

PS: Please take a moment to appreciate the ankle rolls.

Conor loves to do this trick with our babies. And ya, it's pretty cute even when all the photos are blurry. Ira thinks he's the man when he does this probably because we all behave as though he is!

Ira is 10 months old! Time is flying by. My little guy is still pulling himself along with his left arm and pushing with his right foot. He gets up on his hands and knees all the time and will put his hands up on something and take wiggly steps with his knees. But he's not hands and knees crawling yet. He can pop up onto his hands and knees so easily and is pulling himself up to kneeling and standing all the time! He's like a baby goat, if there's something he can climb, he'll climb it. He loves sitting at the oven and kneeling at the drawer handle. He especially loves to pull himself up to kneeling or standing using my body as support. Sometimes he wraps his pudgy arms around one of my ankles and every time my heart melts.

Ira can wave, "hi." We were so surprised when he waved! He's absorbing so much every day. He can also say, "hi." It's pretty cute! Right this moment, he's trying to put a doll apron onto his body.

Night sleep is still very much an issue in this house. Waking once a night is doable. Staying up late or getting up early because he doesn't want to sleep feels less doable. Unconsolable crying because he's stuck in-between awake and asleep is so hard. We really need to work on honing those sleep habits.

Ira is holding his own with big brother, E. If E tries to take something from him, Ira holds on tight. Ira loves his family members, however, true to being a breastfed baby he has some serious preference for me. Sometimes he cries when Conor takes him away from me.

Ira is a beautiful and good natured baby. We sure love him!