Arthur, Month Eleven

Month Eleven was a slow one for Arthur. Much like his sister at around the same age, Arthur seems to have temporarily stalled out on his walking. He can stand unsupported and take two or three quick steps, but that's about it, and every day he repeats that same experiment again and again without any new progress.

Likewise, he has added a few new words, but mostly repeats his regular favorites - he can now say "hi," "mama," "Arthur," "baby," "duck," "dog," and "airplane," but mostly he just points at everything that interests him and shouts "dada!"
He continues to love airplanes - even when he is indoors and hears one fly by he points to the sky and shouts "airplane!" - and birds. He also still really likes tablecloths - I bought a new one and he noticed it right away.

Arthur watching an airplane

But if not much happened on the developmental front, this month did give us more glimpses into Arthur's personality. As we've mentioned many times already, Arthur is extremely friendly and outgoing, and seems driven by a need to capture the attention of everyone in a room. He also tries to share whatever toys and snacks he has with others (often by placing a piece of food directly into someone else's mouth). He's also obedient, and almost always listens when you tell him "no" or "come here."

Arthur discovers a pebble he wants to eat

Arthur considers me telling him "no"

He's also extremely affectionate, loving, and excitable - it's almost heartbreaking to see how happy stuffed animals make him, as soon as you give him one he goes into paroxyms of delight, laughing and cradling it and kissing its face. Far and away his favorite is the rabbit that he sleeps with every night, chewing on its ears or rubbing it gently against his cheek.

He's quite emotional, though, and not all those emotions are happy. Whereas Beatrice was always on a pretty even keel as a baby (and still is now, at least by toddler standards) Arthur swings quickly from delight to outrage, and small setbacks leave him beside himself. Which is all a long-winded way of saying he cries a lot.

Even as an infant, Beatrice was always a real trooper - she'd fall down on the playground and jump right back up again, get sick and not even slow down - but Arthur responds to illnesses and accidents like the world is ending. All this month he had a runny nose and he didn't exactly shake it off. At one point he was so upset over a minor cold that I took him to the doctor, sure that he must have a more serious underlying medical problem. "Nope," the doctor said, "it's a cold. He's just really upset about it."

Happily Arthur is so cute, loving, and charming when things are going well it's easy to forgive the way he acts when he stubs his toe or drops a cookie.

Next month promises to be an exciting one, as Arthur starts swimming lessons and a music class, visits with his grandparents Naresh and Suzan, and prepares for his first birthday! And finally learns to walk?