11 months old!

I can't believe that Dio's birthday is just around the corner! Dio keeps surprising me with how much he's learning and observing. He definitely understands several words and phrases: nurse, clap, jump, I'm going to get you (his cue to crawl away from me as fast as possible), papa, Zari. He still says "uh oh" all the time and makes his lips into an exaggerated "O" shape as he's saying it. He learned how to clap his hands last week, so whenever we say "clap" or the French equivalent "tape les mains," he's happy to oblige.
 
He got his first haircut this week. I cut the back and around the ears, but left the top alone. See how long it was getting?

The clippers made him ticklish. Here's the end result:

He and Zari have so much fun playing together--when she isn't making him cry by pushig him or taking his toys away. ne of their favorite things is to jump together on the bed. He sits and bounces on his bum, and Zari jumps in circles around him. Childhood wouldn't be complete without jumping on beds. Instead of fighting my kids' urge to jump, I designated a twin mattress on the floor the "jumping bed." They are free to jump to their hearts' content.

We've been eating outside when the weather permits.

I won't be surprised if Dio starts walking soon. We've seen him stand up without holding onto anything twice now (when he's busy playing and doesn't realize he's let go of his support). However, he seems to really like crawling, more than Zari ever did. Here is he crawling underneath a fort we made this morning.

Today was Dio's first day with just one nap. I'm transitioning him over from 2 naps to 1 in preparation for going to France this summer (mid-May to early July). I want him to take just one nap in the afternoon, so we can go out in the mornings and play. He did remarkably well today. By 11 am, he was saying "aaaaaa aaa AAAAAA!" in a way that clearly communicated: "why am I not SLEEPING?!?" I put him down right at noon, and he slept for 2 1/2 hours.

Nights have been terrible, though. Right after I posted about how Dio suddently started sleeping well, we've had the worst nights since we've been parents. I'll post more about this soon; I want to get your advice and feedback.

Dio loves swings and slides. He can sit on a swing all by himself now. He has a death grip on the chains, and I stay close by spotting him. But he hasn't fallen yet. We're inheriting an old metal swingset from some friends. It has five sets of swings plus a slide. I have a baby swing that I bought at a garage sale last year, so Dio will finally have a swing he can't fall out of. I'm excited to get the swingset--it will allow me to work in the garden while the kids play. The swingset is quite rusty, but a coat of rust-converting primer and then a fun color of spray paint will make it as good as new. Any color suggestions?