We have had some exciting new changes this month! William started taking his first steps on October 30, and now is walking very well, every chance he gets! His rapid progression has just astounded me. From faltering steps to practically running, in 3 weeks, is pretty fast! He is even able to bend over, pick something up, and stand back up without steadying himself on anything! I guess he just had to get over his fear of falling. I could tell he was getting closer, when in the two weeks before he started walking, he began to practice standing unassisted a lot. He was pretty proud of himself and to show us that he was not holding on to anything, he would hold both palms up like a mime, and then we'd cheer and praise him. He must have liked this praising, because he started holding his palms up at less impressive moments, like when he was sitting in his highchair. That's when we had to tell him that "that doesn't count buddy!" He is a show off already!
In the food department, he is getting better at eating chunks of solid food, but is still not great (though most of my mom friends report the same thing about their toddlers, so maybe this is normal). Most
nights I give Will peas, corn, a chicken nugget, spaghetti noodles with sesame oil and soy sauce, a cut up grape,
cheese, a handful of blueberries and a handful of cheerios and a bit of whatever we are eating. About 25-50% of
that gets eaten and I follow up with a 4oz jar of puree. I figure I'll
keep offering various foods, and eventually he'll eat them. At least he usually takes a bite of
everything, even if he doesnt eat much. I call that a win! Some nights he eats enough that he doesn't need the puree, so my hope is that some day soon, we can stop giving him those altogether. My one comfort is that he does drink a lot of cows milk. Up to 32oz a day! He goes through a gallon and a half a week! So I know that he is getting plenty of calories, if not a completely balanced diet. 
Speaking of milk, my
stash of frozen breast milk finally ran out, and we gave him his last
bottle on November 7th. He was still taking pretty big bedtime bottles
at that point (7-10oz each night), so I thought he might have a hard
time if I just stopped the bottles cold-turkey. So we made it more of a
transition by offering him a sippy cup full of milk instead, for a week
after I stopped the bottle. Then once that week was over, we ended all
bedtime milk drinking. He actually took it better than I expected and
there were no tantrums or even a single tear shed! Another new transition was going from two naps, down to one nap. This change has been nice because I don't have to rock him to sleep anymore, and he goes down much more quickly at bedtime as well. We finally switched because he refused to fall asleep for the second nap, even when I rocked him. At first the single nap only lasted an hour (which was rough because I didn't get much of a break all day and he was super cranky by bedtime), but over a few weeks time, it slowly lengthened to around 2 hours (1pm-3pm ish). Though occasionally it can be as short as 45 minutes or as long as 3 hours!
Every day he is becoming more and more of a toddler and less of a baby. He is into everything, all the time! Along with greater understanding of what we are saying, has come more
tantrums. He likes to arch his back, throw his head back (I always have
to catch it as I'm afraid he will injure it on the floor), and stick his legs straight out like pokers and scream and cry. He lets out this particular screech when he is mad or really excited, that can make your ears bleed if you are standing too close. Luckily these tantrums are generally pretty short lived so far. He gets over things quickly and doesn't hold a grudge. Also it helps that he is still little enough I can just pick him up and move him to another location to distract him. That may not be possible in a year or two. This kid is getting heavy!
Finally, in closing, I will share an epic parenting moment I had the other day. I was drawing a bath for Will, and had stripped him down to just his diaper. I have a basket that holds all of his bath supplies (comb, towel, lotion, soap, etc) and I was standing at the sink, getting stuff out of this basket while he was leaning over the edge of the tub, splashing in the water. There is a mirror above the sink that reflects the tub, so I could see him the whole time. Then I hear a splash, and I turn around, and he had just dived in, diaper and all! He was fine, he didn't even sputter! In the 2 seconds it took me to turn around and get to him, he was already sitting up, happily splashing in the water. I then had to take his soaking diaper off and proceeded to give him his bath. Crazy little fish! I can't turn my back for ONE second!!!
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