11 months.

Almost every day someone will guess Wells' age usually when we are in the elevator at our hotel. "Is he two?" No, ma'am. "Is he eighteen months" Nope, wrong again. He is still looking very tall for his age and average weight for his size. He is still breastfeeding like a champ. I've seen a big difference in size this last month. He keeps growing especially in the last two weeks. My baby is morphing into a toddler complete with a few temper tantrums usually spiked when he wants to play with electronics or the hair dryer. Neither of which he is allowed to play with. Overall he is doing so well with our transitional living. We have been at our hotel in St. Thomas for two weeks now. Wells has loved have pool and beach access every day. We make it a point to get in the water at the very least once and sometimes several times. It helps to wear this boy out. He has all the energy in the world.

This past month, we had a small gathering of our close friends to celebrate Wells' life. I'll be sharing a blog post about it later next month. Wells received several different toys and he has fallen in love with them. He keeps busy by beating on his new drum, playing instruments, and rolling around the soccer ball. I find it amusing to watch him figure out his gifted record player from the fisher price vintage inspired new toy line. He has such a look of delight when he finally get's it right and it start playing music. Or he pushes the player to me to crank. After enjoying a few seconds of music he rips the disc out and starts over. We left Philadelphia and made our way to our new home in St. Thomas. 

Wells is loving to take walks holding my hand lately. He still doesn't stand by himself though. Maybe one full second but then plop on the ground and off he goes. He loves crawling along the beach but is a little hesitate to the waves that roll in. This week we were able to go over to St. John and he warmed up to the water line and played back and forth with the rolling in waters. (Not much of a wave action where we were.) We put him in a float and take him out in the ocean and pool. He absolutely loves it. He has taken his first water taxi and ferry this month. The ferry's rock made him fall asleep in our arms. He naps on the beach and in our arms in the back of the taxi trucks around the island.

His two bottom front teeth are slowly coming in and his two top front are budding. Teething hasn't seem to affect his mood or sleep patterns at all. He is co-sleeping during all of our transition and we are going to bring back the crib once we are settled into a house. He sleeps like a rock though and we've loved this time with him. He is super active, but at times wants to just cuddle. I embrace the cuddles and how he lays his head down on me. He loves give, blowing kisses, and playing peek-a-boo which he can hide his own face and boo you now.

This last month he has become even more vocal and seems to be looking to make conversation. He says 'heeellllooooo' or a big breathy "hiiiiiggggghhhhh" to strangers but get shy when they acknowledge him and barries his head into my arm. But, I think he secretly loves all the attention he has been getting from the other guests at the resort. We made friends with a family from our same neighborhood in Philadelphia and they had a 18 month old girl. Wells loved having her around to chase around the baby splash pad area. Around the room, I've given him a notebook and pen which he absolutely loves. He holds the pen pretty well and draws hits the page marking it up. 

The differences now aren't as many but I blink and he is bigger. A little bit scary as I see his life speeding by. I feel accomplished at the end of each day that he is sunburn free and alive. I've stayed up at night fearing he falls off the mountains or drifts to sea in his floaty. I know, I am that mom. I am slowly gaining my island legs and my heart soaring above my fears of all the things we are growing accustom to in life on the rock. Next month, our little bean with be one year old. I. Can't. Believe. It. I'm savoring these last few weeks of my baby being a 'baby.