Heading into Toddler-dom

If you hadn't noticed, I updated the blog's picture with a more recent one of William.  The picture went from him being 2 months old (last Christmas) to being 11 months old (umm, about a week ago).  What a difference 9 months makes!  He looks like a little boy--a toddler--to me already.  I think toddler-dom officially begins at their first birthday, but he is already acting like one:

• He approaches everything to investigate.
• He pokes, pinches, rubs--just handles--everything.
• He squirms like a wriggling worm when you try to hold him but he wants to be put down.
• He screams to get what he wants (looking forward to him associating actual words and/or signs to the things he wants).
• He wants to try to eat everything I eat...as though his food isn't nearly as good...and as if he has teeth to chew.
• He fights nap time.
• He eats rocks.
• He pulls the toilet paper off the roll and then rips it to tiny, tiny pieces and strews them across the floor as he crawls to his next investigative adventure.
• He disturbs anything that looks moderately neat or orderly (more specifically, laundry that I have just folded or toy blocks that I put back in their wagon/basket).
• He tries to dive, head-first, out of my arms while I'm holding him.
• He likes to be held upside down.
• He tries to stand up and nurse at the same time, so his feet end up doing a kind of dance while he's bent over the boob (if I'm sitting on the floor next to him).
• He likes to climb, whether it's me, Dave, the couch, or the open dishwasher door.
• He takes out the silverware from the dishwasher one utensil at a time--regardless of the dishes' state of cleanliness.

That is just a short list of what life is like around here lately.  It has been fun watching his personality emerge.  One of my favorite things that he does is scrunch his nose when he smiles at you or is really happy about something.  I haven't yet caught it on camera, though.  I'll keep trying.  I'm sure he does other things, but he just woke up so I'm a bit distracted now.  Might as well go ahead and post.  Maybe we'll go to Bugfest today in Downtown Raleigh and hope he doesn't squish a hissing cockroach between his curious fingers.