11 months

44  weeks
Ezra's pride at walking behind a push toy was palpable this week!  After circulating in some toys that had been tucked away for a week or two to keep things fresh for the kid, the walker toy made it's appearance again.  And since he continues to grow in balance and confidence walking with us, I tried sticking him behind it again, and this time he took off across the room with a big smile on his face.  It's pretty fun to watch.  Unfortunately he doesn't have the coordination to turn himself around so he needs us to turn him when he is on a roll, and his straightaway isn't too long due to the house having the raised dining room off the living room where he plays. Oh well!
Ez officially dropped his 3rd nap this week and we are down to 2 solid naps, and he has a lovely new tooth on the top left!  He is looking older with each tooth that comes through.


45 weeks
With Ezra's increaseed mobility and curiosity, our house is being rearranged more and more to raise items out of his reach or move items okay to explore, in his grasp.  So Ezra's own bowls, plates, and cups are now located in the lowest drawer in the kitchen for him to open and remove items as he chooses.  Our coffee table in the living room has now been relocated directly in front of the TV stand and Blu-ray player, to keep his paws off the electronics.  Our biggest problem area is one we can't easily move or cover: the power plug for our security screen panel.  So I have now had the pleasure of hearing what the backup battery alarm sound like when the power source has been cut off and it's been running on backup battery for awhile.  We often have a few days of "understanding" with Ez and he leaves the outlet plug alone, and then a few days of frustrating and continual redirects, "no's", and distraction to keep him from the beeline he seems to make for it.
He has also connected the idea that if he can push his walker toy around, he might also be able to move other furniture around too.  So he slides his high chair around the hard wood floors and was pushing around the heavy wood desk chair.  I ended up moving that chair down to the living room, so he didn't end up pushing the chair over the ledge and somehow end up on the bottom of that pile.
We started swimming classes this week too, and Ezra just kind of took it all in, neither extreme excitement or extreme fear.  I suppose that is a win.  There is another younger baby and then Ez is the next youngest, so he has 8 other older kids to watch and model.


46 weeks
I decided to utilize the toy lending library this week, and it becomes obvious Ez is looking for more challenges to conquer around the house.  So I picked up a cause and effect toy with the farm animals that pop up when Ez hits a switch, a puppet-who talks and kisses him much to his enjoyment, and multi-toy with the beads he can trace along the wires, a clock with moving hands, etc.  It's such a great idea and I plan to use it often through this winter!
Daddy and Ez are enjoying their evening wrestling matches.  They often take place as I am cooking dinner, so I hear a lot of panting and laughter from the living room.  Ezra also now anticipates his trips to the park when we round the bend and he sees the familiar colours and equipment.  His little feet start doing a happy dance of kicking as we get closer.  He enjoys his time on the swing, the little baby teeter totter, and the slides.
In swim class Ez got dunked.  It does seem like a mean thing to do to babies, doesn't it?  But I figure we got to do it sometime.  So this week, as they said to put them under of we chose to, I did.  He seemed a bit startled, but didn't cry.  In all honesty, I think he dislikes floating on his back more than getting dunked.  He doesn't like the water on his ears.


47 weeks
Ezra has brought meal time to a whole new level of messy.  His new favourite activity, with a mouth full of food is "blowing bubbles".  So imagine a mouthful of yogurt and then the sputtering of lips to conclude with Mom and Dad receiving a coating of yogurt.  We are trying different techniques of firm "no's" to my newest strategy of pushing him back from the table until he stops and then pulling him back up for more food.  Fun Times.
Ezra's park time is evolving as he explores in new ways, this week he enjoys trying crawling up the slides which he does with some extra mommy muscle pushing from behind.  He is also experimenting with bringing the pea gravel up and tossing it on the base of the slide and watching it slide down.  As he begins enjoying the view from the platform that connects 3 slides he has taken to going down the slides head first with me holding onto his jacket.
"Dada" is the word of choice this month, and with each week he seems to say it with more meaning.  In the mornings, Ez is allowed into our room while we get ready and he enjoys looking at the photographs of me and Nate through the years, and has begun to do some pointing to each of us.  Occasionally, he points to Uncle Dan and says "Dada" but we can't really ask for perfection at this point, right?!  We also continue to work at waving goodbye, so we stake out at the couch in front of our big window and wait for Daddy to drive out of the garage to wave goodbye in the mornings.  It's a work in progress, but Ez is not much of a waver...maybe next month.  Or maybe he's just not much for goodbye's.

So instead, "See you later".